Peter Barényi — Chimes

The Chimes installation reflects on the fatal disease of the artist’s mother. Chimes is a musical object made of small personal things that belonged to the artist’s mother – jewellery beads (he gave her some of them when he was little), knitting needles (she used them to make some of his clothes), baking moulds (they baked together using these) – objects that remind him of her and his childhood. The aesthetically pleasing object is set into motion by a fan and its soft chimes create an intimate atmosphere. He uses the topic of the fatal decease and the consequential coping mechanisms to analyse himself, his life and its possibilities and the changes that began after the loss. Mother’s death is always very painful for her children. When moms die, we loose someone who has been with us since the very first second of our existence.

The artist started to incorporate the phenomenon of death into his work in 2005. Besides Chimes, death can be also found in some of his other works (Hug, Untitled Loop About My Mum, Wall, Legacy, It All Started When She Died).

Barényi’s work has many different levels. He focuses mostly on intermedia installations, but he is also no stranger to the medium of drawing. His art pieces carry the signs/characteristics of journal entries. At first glance, his visual language is very simple, but it encompasses a lot of his personal experience. The artist addresses various difficult/light themes very gently, sometimes playfully or even graciously.