Rustling
Brigitta Varadi

Artist Statement
Utilizing painting, textile, video and public interventions Brigitta Varadi explores pattern and repetition of gesture that relate to the invisible and everyday rituals of working life. Váradi examines the disappearing traditions and daily activities of small, secluded communities around the world: her grandmother mopping up her kitchen floor several times a day, the “liberty” tea made by inhabitants of New York State and the marking system of the dwindling community of shepherds in Ireland. Brigitta’s latest project gathers together and explores the different marks used by farmers to identify their sheep in the North West region. With the use of traditional techniques and a system of marks used by shepherds, her works examine the mechanics of remembering and reminding. Creating a dialogue with farmers and place the project also opens on to a broader reflection concerning the signs and forms of identification humans use to identify animals, plants and territories.

‘The act of inscription—more than the content of the inscribed markings—is paramount. In visual and material fidelity, each artwork represents a person, one whose occupation and knowledge, their ownership and memory, leave a bold mark on the canvas. These graphic representations—and they are both mimetic representations and abstractions—could be equally at home on a damp Irish hillside or in the modern art gallery. In the shared gestures of the farmer and the artist, two lineages come together.’  excerpts from essay by Andrea Alessi

About the Brigitta Varadi
Brigitta Varadi is currently artist-in residence at the MAD Museum of Arts and Design, NYC. At MAD, Varadi focusing on a community-based research project commissioned by Burlington City Arts (BCA), VT in collaboration with Shelburne Farms, culminating in a solo exhibit at the BCA Center, VT, in February 2020. Brigitta has participated in notable group exhibitions in New York including Spring Break Art Show, (2017), Currently 80, curated by John Yau, (2017), and her latest solo shows were held at the Westbeth Gallery, NY, (2018) Budapest Gallery, Hungary, (2017) and Leitrim Sculpture Centre (2015) Ireland. She is a recipient of awards from the Arts Council of Ireland, Leitrim County Council and Culture Ireland, selected for NYFA, IAP
Program (2017) and awarded Residency and Fellowship programs at several art organisations including Civitella Ranieri Foundation, USA-Italy, and NARS Foundation, NY and many more. Her work is found in many public collections including a government commission for The Department of Education and Science, Ireland. She is a recipient of numerous awards and her work has been reviewed in the Irish Times and included in several books. Brigitta was acknowledged for her contribution to the arts of Ireland by the President, Mary Mc Alesse.

Contact info for Brigitta is listed below