Nagy, Kriszta: I am a Contemporary Painter (1998)

Kriszta Nagy (alias Tereskova or x-T) is a painter, intermedia artist, singer and rabble-rouser, who has recently published a video message offering her expert help to the political elite in order to facilitate the revival of contemporary art and the international success of Hungarian artists. Depicting the artist in the style of lingerie advertisements, “I Am a Contemporary Painter”, a billboard installed temporarily in 1998 on the Lövölde Square in Budapest – and later elsewhere in different versions – is a calculatedly effective and provocative piece. Hiding behind a plethora of roles (while having an ambivalent relationship with these roles), the artist advertises her merchandise – her painting and herself – with the most powerful marketing tool: the attractive female body. With her provocative gesture, she raises awareness of various anomalies in contemporary art life: the antagonism between the elitist notion of art and media culture; the precarious situation of contemporary artists; the desires and limits of commercialization; and in the background of all of this, the significance of money. K.Sz.