Réka Ritt Laklia

Born 1978 Budapest, Hungary

Education

2021 newplatform.art Professional Development Programme in association with Parker Harris.
2013-16 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London.
2012-13 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London.
2011-16 Clarendon Studios, Fine Art Private Education and Mentoring, London.
1996-01 Doctorate in Law and Political Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.

Exhibitions and Prizes

2024 Macfarlanes Art Prize, London, UK.
Works On Paper, The Gallery at Green and Stone, London, UK.
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent.
2023 Art Gemini Prize, 1st Prize Painting, Zari Gallery, London, UK.
Medicine Festival, Wasing, UK.
10x10 ArtCan Anniversary, Hansard Studio, London, UK.
A Glorious Journey, group exhibition, Gallery Different, London, UK.
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK.
2022 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London.
Elevate 04, group exhibition, The Shard, London.
Collaborations, Goodnestone Park and Linden Hall Studio, Kent, UK.
Stories 02, group exhibition, The News Building, London.
Expanded Painting, AIR Gallery, group exhibition, Altrincham, UK.
GoldBlink Short Film Awards, Honorable Mention, Best Micro Film.
Inspirational Women Artists, God's House Tower arts and heritage space, Southampton, UK.
Scarab Short Film Festival, Best Micro-Short Film, Dubai.
Human Gold, group exhibition, Thoresby Gallery, Newark, UK.
Walking With Artists Through Land And Sea, group exhibition, Leabrooks Art Complex Gallery, Alfreton, Derbyshire, UK.
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK.
2021 Folklore and Traditions, LoosenArt, group exhibition, Rome, Italy.
MicroActs9, program of short films curated by Liberty Antonia Sadler, Hotel Elephant, London.
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent.
Alternatív Textil, group exhibition, MKISZ-Association of Hungarian Artists, Budapest
2020 Inner World, group exhibition, Boomer Gallery, London.
Premier London and HOPE Exhibition 2020, organised by (IAL) International Artists Link Org, online.
Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, Online on the gallerys' website (due to covid-19).
Fusion Art 5th Anniversary International Online Juried Art Exhibition, Palm Springs, United States, Online on the gallerys' website (due to covid-19).
2019 3rd International Alternative Textile Symposion, residency, Somogytur, Hungary.
Born to Loop, group exhibition, Mary Magdalene Church Tower, Buda Castle, Budapest.
Very Contemporary Tapestry, B32 Gallery and Cultural Space, Budapest.
Fresh Harvest, Karolyi Stately Home of Fehervarcsurgo, Hungary.
Contemporary Landscape, group exhibition, 508 Gallery, London.
2017 Second Draft, group exhibition, Safehouse 2, London.
Gebilde Painters, group exhibition, 5th Base Gallery, London.
2016 Let the Dust Settle, group exhibition, Crypt Gallery, London.
Chelsea Undergraduate Summer Show 2016, London.
Draft, group exhibition, Safehouse 2, London.
ArtGemini Prize, Asia House Gallery, London.
Bare Home, solo exhibition, London.
2015 National Open Art Competition shortlisted.
Art Gemini Prize, Menier Gallery, London.
ART PRIZE CBM, Casa Toesca and Villa Vallero, Rivarolo Canavese, Italy.
Griffin Gallery Open, London.
White Spirits, group exhibition, Safehouse 1, London.
Undercover, solo exhibition, Clarendon Studios, London.
Summer Mixed Exhibition, Gorstella Gallery, Chester.
2014 ArtGemini Prize, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.
Crash Open Salon, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London.
2013 National Open Art Competition shortlisted.
SouthWestFest Art Competition 2nd Prize.
Wells Art Contemporary 2013, Wells and Mendip Museum.
Cork Street Open Exhibition, Cork Street Gallery, London.
Creekside Open 2013 Selected by Paul Noble, APT Gallery, London.

Commissions

2017 Open Society Foundations, London.
2016 D5 Executive Gymnasium, Dubai International Financial Center.
2015 Discovery Networks, London.
2014 Frontier Economics, London.
Hitachi Consulting UK, London.

Collections

Private and corporate collections: Hungary, Germany, Russia, UAE, Jersey, the United States, and the UK.
Public collection: Westminster Abbey Centre.

Bibliography

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022, catalogue, London UK.
Winter Group Show, catalogue, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK 2022.
Fern & Glade, Interview, 2022.
ARTISTS RESPONDING TO, Zine Issue 5, January 2021.
'CBM Art Prize, III Edition', catalogue, Turin, Italy 2015.
'Griffin Gallery Open 2015', catalogue, London, UK.
'The State of Art Representational & Abstract #2', edited by Andy Laffan, Chris Hodson and Robin Laffan by Bare Hill Publishing, 2014.
'Art Gemini Prize - Finalists Exhibition', catalogue, London, 2013, 2015, 2016.
'Cork Street Open Exhibition 2013 August', catalogue, London.
Creekside Open 2013' catalogue, A.P.T Gallery, London.

Statement

Réka Ritt Laklia is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in London. Her practice encompasses painting, VR, installation and photography. She uses motifs and materials, often imbued with folkloric elements, that emerge from her Hungarian cultural heritage. She alchemises her ancestral legacy of various crafts, including copper smithing and the intricate cellular patterns of folkloric embroideries, with the global cultural experience she gathered through travelling and living in many different countries. Her organic patterns are inspired by, but do not imitate, Hungarian folkloric motives. Instead, her art is the product of a compassionate and sensitive combination of critical thinking and respect for traditions.

"The creative process is to understand the narrative of my recollections, identifying the underlying patterns and dynamics that run across them and the parallel patterns and dynamics that run across society and culture. It is a ceremonial quest to find remedies for fractures in all levels of human experience and, in a symbolic manner, to perform curative corrections and adjustments, treating the artwork as a voodoo doll."

In 2018 Réka moved, so that her studio now backs onto one of the few remaining areas of ancient deciduous forest in England, which brought 'nature' into her focus of attention: its beauty, of course, but also its natural ease with loss, death, and transient existence. It is a wonder how the individual organisms of the forest's ecosystem are connected, not trying to violate this transient existence on each other's account.

"The woods enchanted me with its towering giant oak trees and busy wildlife. Some parts of the area date back over 8,000 years to the end of the last Ice Age. As if childhood tales became alive, an almost tangible magic lingers around the misty, moss-covered woodland. Nature's closeness helps me tap into my experiences in this realm, integrating its dynamics into my modus vivendi."

Through her paintings, Réka introduces her powerfully spiritual take on the connection between nature and culture, exploring non-dualistic philosophies, mystical practices and other systems of spiritual exploration as possible pathways to reconcile the two.

Portrait of Réka Ritt Laklia
Réka Ritt Laklia