Leidenschaftliche Posen (Studien über Hysterie), 2008/2018
Printed Melamine Plates, 28 cm
The seven tondi refer to the “Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière,” an image atlas compiled by the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot to systematize the manifestations of hysteria. The phenomenon of hysteria, which captivated the public at the end of the 19th century, is almost a prototype for Istvan Balogh’s artistic strategy. The “Leçons du mardi,” during which Charcot put his star hysterical patients under hypnosis and presented their fits to a fascinated audience, had transformed the exploration of a pathological phenomenon into a theatrical spectacle. The patients unwittingly also served the subliminal erotic fantasies of those present.
In his adaptation of Charcot’s photo collection, Istvan Balogh takes it a step further and adds new elements. His “hysteric” not only adopts the poses of the models from the theatrical medical lecture, but also references icons from art history and film history: Manet’s Olympia or Marilyn Monroe above the subway shaft are easily identifiable despite the hospital nightgown. But that is not all. The artist manipulates the “confabulatory screw” one turn further. The images of the feigning-sick figures frozen in their poses are printed on plastic plates, and the wall on which they hang is painted in an iridescent shade. Depending on the angle of the light, their pearlescent sheen shimmers between beautiful and ugly, evoking associations ranging from cleaning buckets to cosmetics. The dishes could be smashed by an angry woman in a moment of rebellion, though only in the imagination: when thrown on the floor, plastic plates do not break. Without a doubt: Istvan Balogh enjoys rummaging through scientific archives, though he does so with a light touch and a good dose of humor.
Claudia Spinelli, 2018
