Curriculum Vitae (Professional Life)

I was born in Bükkszentlászló in 1957. I started my schools in Miskolc where I graduated from Földes Ferenc Grammar School in 1975. I got my degree in Nyíregyháza in 1982 as a teacher of Art and Biology. My masters were the following painters:Balogh Géza, Bényi Árpád and Horváth János. I regularly took part in the college group exhibitions for students. I learnt fire-enamel in Nyírbátor. My master was Józsa János. I also took part in the summer art camps and group exhibitions.

During my high school years(1973) I started to attend the Free School of Zebegény where I became the student of the great painter Hincz Gyula. After his death I had an exhibition  in Vác in the Hincz Exhibition Room in 1986. We organized several individual and group exhibitions. In 1990 I got the Niveau Prize for my life-work in Art in Debrecen.

Meanwhile I became the member of the Creative Camp of Hortobágy. I got an invitation to an international graphical show in Arezzo. In 1990 I moved to Budapest. The Hungarian National Bank bought some of my paintings for its office in Hold street.

In 1992 I moved to Switzerland, first to Basel, then to Zürich-Hagen where I opened my own gallery  called Barke. It gave an opportunity for the contemporary artists to exhibit their works.

In Switzerland  I regularly had exhibitions  and the Swiss media wrote a lot about my life-work. Lots of my paintings were bought by Swiss collectors and public institutes mainly banks such as Schweizerischer Rentenanstalt(Zürich), International Caritas Corporation(Zürich)and Schweizerischer Bankverein.

When the first Casino was opened in St. Moritz in 1994, I had a show in the city, in the most famous exhibition room of Switzerland called Kunsthalle. The architects  of the Casino saw my exhibition  and they wanted to decorate the place visited by the most famous  and richest people in the world with my paintings. My works are still there now. In the same year I was invited to a group exhibition  in Klein Gallery in Zürich where my paintings were exhibited next to the paintings of the great artist Joseph Beuys.

In 1996 I settled in Boca Raton,Florida,USA. The Addison Gallery made a contract with me and it promoted and sold my works. So I got the circulation of the American contemporary art. In Delray Beach a significant American cultural event called Art on Atlantic Avenue is held annually and the Akontempo Gallery  organized  its season-opening  exhibition  here from my works  under the name of Inspirations.

Because of my orders and offers for exhibitions I moved to New York where after half a year the famous Artspeak journal praised my works. I became the member of the famous non-profit gallery called Ward Nasse Gallery, Soho.

Because of family reasons I moved back to Budapest in 1999. In 2000 I got accepted at the Association of the Hungarian Artists.

Feledy Balázs  wrote a monograph about me under the title of Határtalan(Borderless) which was published in 2001. The preview of my book was in Vigadó Gallery in Budapest together with my exhibition.

Meanwhile the Hungarian media regularly reported on my shows(m1,RTL Klub,TV2,Duna TV). So I often appeared in several tv and radio channels.

In 2002 I had an exhibition in Urwelt-Museum Hauff in Germany. It was opened by Kurucz Gyula,the cultural attache of Stuttgart. These works were also exhibited in the Hungarian Cultural  Institute  in Stuttgart and reported in the local press.

I held  an exhibition in Kortárs Galéria in Kecskemét in 2003 and in Art Euro Gallery in Szolnok in 2004.

In 2005 I organized a national exhibition called Instead of Terrorism for a Better World for handicapped artists and their supporters in Orosháza. It was patronised by the minister Göncz Kinga.

I lived in Sopron for a year where in 2006 I had two exhibitions in Pannónia Gallery and Üvegpalota. In 2007 I was invited to a prestigeous show in Kecskemét.

This year I was asked by the European Parliament to hold an exhibition in July and represent my homeland. About 200 famous people were present at the opening. A lot of national and regional media reported on this event.

I appeared on the cover of Art –Press art magazine and Pannon Tükör newspaper and several articles were published about my life-work. It is in the Internet as well.

The Contemporary Hungarian Art Lexicon writes about me. This year a second album called Hiding Neovenuses by Fejér Zoltán Kálmán was published about my life-work.

József Burkus