The winner of the contest in its first year was Zsuzsa Gesztelyi Nagy, whose large-scale image of colourful clothing and textiles can be seen on the first floor of the Re:Fresh exhibition. Ágnes Tóth, who won the Kogart Prize in 2005, shows portraits that seem to break through the surface like a chick from an egg. From the 2006 winner Endre Kiss comes a portrait of a youngish grandmother, whose face appears to be made of giant pixels. The 2007 winner Csilla Bondor shows an image of church steps winding up the wall.
All four of the artists said the purse that came with the Kogart Prize was a big help as it allowed them to concentrate on painting for a full year, without having to worry about becoming starving artists. They also welcomed the chance the prize gave them to show their work abroad.
Endre Kiss, who graduated from the Arts Department of the University of Pécs in 2006, lives in Pécs and rents a studio in the Zsolnay Porcelain factory, something few of those that studied with him could do. Kiss is active with three other artists in a group called Kisház, or "cottage". Though he won the Kogart Prize two years ago, he said it does not feel as if the story is over as the Kogart Foundation has just purchased his thesis work. He believes that if the foundation has already invested a sizable amount in the prize-winners, it does not want to lose them, or at least it will continue to pay attention to them. Kiss says he is an especially advantageous position because he was born in an ethnic Hungarian region of Serbia, his wife is from an ethnic Hungarian region of Romania and they live in Hungary, allowing him to promote his work in all three countries.
Ágnes Tóth: Back Garden I
Zsuzsa Gesztelyi Nagy said she has never had any trouble selling her paintings thanks to the prestige of the prize. It was not just the prize money that mattered, but the catalogue and the exposure, she added.
Ágnes Tóth said the prize brought her much exposure and offered an opportunity to work without obligations to anybody. Tóth said she has little time to paint now as she has opened, together with her mother, an architect, a café where they both work. It is her dream that the café become a cultural centre for exhibitions, poetry readings and concerts.
Csilla Bondor said she now lives with her husband, a sculptor, in a farm house in a tiny village about 50 kilometres away from Budapest. Hidden away from the world, she says she wants nothing more now than a child.
