Endre Tót
TOTal Zer0 series III.
Artist
Endre Tót
(1937, Sümeg), Hungarian
Original Title
TOTal Zer0 series III.
Date1975-77
Mediumenamelled steel plate
Dimensions30 × 20 cm
Classificationsprints
Credit LinePrivate collection, long-term loan to Kunsthalle Praha
DescriptionHungarian conceptual artist Endre Tót is one of the pioneers of European mail art and is also affiliated with the Fluxus movement. His entire oeuvre is permeated by the themes of absence, reduction, and freedom. In the early 1970s, his work became defined by drawing, writing, and text in general. His most famous works are the series Zero and TÓTalJOYS, both featuring the number zero (stylized as zer0)—either individually or in repetition, incorporated into different words—as a key motif. The number also represented an essential feature of his demonstration, functioning as a symbol of censorship and support for artistic freedom. Mail art allowed Tót to overcome the isolation brought about by Hungary’s political censorship without leaving the country, allowing him to communicate with a range of international artists and professionals. Despite never explicitly speaking about censorship, his work is pervaded by an element of nonsensicality—and therefore indecipherability—which intentionally confronts methods of state control. After emigrating to West Germany, Tót translated this concept into public space events which accentuated his own agency as an artist and incorporated the viewer into the artwork. During the second half of the 1980s, he returned to painting, building upon on his previous conceptual approach to the book as a medium in the 1970s (My Unpainted Canvases, 1971), as well as on his conceptual expression of absence and nothingness via painterly devices. He has also worked with diverse mediums such as telegrams, postcards, shirts, photocopies, typewriters, movies, posters, banners, actions, artist’s books, and street journals.
TOTal Zer0 Series (1975–1977) comprises six enamel-coated steel sheets. Their central motif is the numeral 0, which is accompanied by slightly absurd texts with references to the number zero (Looking at this zero for long makes yoo more intelligent; If you look at this zero yoo got to forget all; four zeros for you; I AM GLAD IF yoo gaze at this zero; Ooh darling! Yoo see, we are so lonely; Here is a big zero for yoos). Zero and its use in different pictorial variations, as well as in street events, has been a continuous feature of Tót’s work from the early 1970s onward, appearing in his artist’s books, mail art, and street events. It relates to his opposition to censorship, but also conveys a broader opposition to normative social order and a deep belief in the right of free artistic expression. Through slogans containing the word “zero” or the numeral “0”, Tót thematized absence and emptiness in society. Nevertheless, he did not approach these topics in a negative or nihilistic manner. On the contrary, his stance aligns with the positive approach of the ZERO group (Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Günther Uecker); however, Tót sought to rid their approach of its mystical-romantic glorification.
Endre Tót (born 1937, Sümeg, Hungary) has been living in Cologne since 1978. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest but was expelled due to his opposition to the doctrine of socialist realism. He subsequently studied applied arts, and the beginnings of his artistic career were in the vein of art informel. In the 1970s, he abandoned painting and started exploring conceptual art. In 1971, he was invited to participate in the Paris Biennale; he also repeatedly posted his work to exhibitions in Poland. Tót’s concept of absent paintings featured in Klaus Groh’s legendary book Contemporary Art in Eastern Europe (Cologne, 1972). Other conceptual works of his were included in Achille Bonito Oliva’s publication Europe/America: The Different Avant-Garde (Milan, 1976). These books helped him overcome the isolation of the Iron Curtain and eased his integration into the art scene following his emigration to West Germany. In the late 1970s, he received the DAAD scholarship for a stay in West Berlin, where he exhibited at the Galerie René Block and developed ties with artists from the Fluxus movement. In 1980, he permanently settled in Cologne. Tót’s first retrospective exhibition took place in 1999 at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. His famous work Dada Messe in Berlin was featured in the exhibition ICONOCLASH: Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion and Art (ZKM Karlsruhe, 2002), which presented important iconoclastic artworks by seminal figures from art history, such as Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Duchamp, Malevich, Picabia, Warhol, and Beuys. In 2006, he took part in the international exhibition Eye on Europe–1960 to Now: Prints, Books and Multiples at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His sizeable triptych Fluxus Triptichon (2002) was featured in the 2010 exhibition Who Killed the Painting? at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Bremen, alongside works by artists such as Joseph Beuys, Allan Kaprow, Ben Vautier, George Brecht, Al Hansen, and Nam Jun Paik. Tót’s work is included in the collections of prominent institutions such as the Modern Art in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Neue National Galerie in Berlin, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest, and the National Gallery in Prague. He is the laureate of numerous awards, including the Mihály Munkácsy Prize (Budapest, 2005), the Kossuth Prize (2009), an Honorary Artist Membership from the Whitechapel Gallery in London (1990), and an Honorary Artist Membership from the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2006).
TOTal Zer0 Series (1975–1977) comprises six enamel-coated steel sheets. Their central motif is the numeral 0, which is accompanied by slightly absurd texts with references to the number zero (Looking at this zero for long makes yoo more intelligent; If you look at this zero yoo got to forget all; four zeros for you; I AM GLAD IF yoo gaze at this zero; Ooh darling! Yoo see, we are so lonely; Here is a big zero for yoos). Zero and its use in different pictorial variations, as well as in street events, has been a continuous feature of Tót’s work from the early 1970s onward, appearing in his artist’s books, mail art, and street events. It relates to his opposition to censorship, but also conveys a broader opposition to normative social order and a deep belief in the right of free artistic expression. Through slogans containing the word “zero” or the numeral “0”, Tót thematized absence and emptiness in society. Nevertheless, he did not approach these topics in a negative or nihilistic manner. On the contrary, his stance aligns with the positive approach of the ZERO group (Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Günther Uecker); however, Tót sought to rid their approach of its mystical-romantic glorification.
Endre Tót (born 1937, Sümeg, Hungary) has been living in Cologne since 1978. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest but was expelled due to his opposition to the doctrine of socialist realism. He subsequently studied applied arts, and the beginnings of his artistic career were in the vein of art informel. In the 1970s, he abandoned painting and started exploring conceptual art. In 1971, he was invited to participate in the Paris Biennale; he also repeatedly posted his work to exhibitions in Poland. Tót’s concept of absent paintings featured in Klaus Groh’s legendary book Contemporary Art in Eastern Europe (Cologne, 1972). Other conceptual works of his were included in Achille Bonito Oliva’s publication Europe/America: The Different Avant-Garde (Milan, 1976). These books helped him overcome the isolation of the Iron Curtain and eased his integration into the art scene following his emigration to West Germany. In the late 1970s, he received the DAAD scholarship for a stay in West Berlin, where he exhibited at the Galerie René Block and developed ties with artists from the Fluxus movement. In 1980, he permanently settled in Cologne. Tót’s first retrospective exhibition took place in 1999 at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. His famous work Dada Messe in Berlin was featured in the exhibition ICONOCLASH: Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion and Art (ZKM Karlsruhe, 2002), which presented important iconoclastic artworks by seminal figures from art history, such as Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Duchamp, Malevich, Picabia, Warhol, and Beuys. In 2006, he took part in the international exhibition Eye on Europe–1960 to Now: Prints, Books and Multiples at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His sizeable triptych Fluxus Triptichon (2002) was featured in the 2010 exhibition Who Killed the Painting? at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Bremen, alongside works by artists such as Joseph Beuys, Allan Kaprow, Ben Vautier, George Brecht, Al Hansen, and Nam Jun Paik. Tót’s work is included in the collections of prominent institutions such as the Modern Art in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Neue National Galerie in Berlin, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest, and the National Gallery in Prague. He is the laureate of numerous awards, including the Mihály Munkácsy Prize (Budapest, 2005), the Kossuth Prize (2009), an Honorary Artist Membership from the Whitechapel Gallery in London (1990), and an Honorary Artist Membership from the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2006).
