Dagmar Varady at devening projects + editions

Published in Time Out Chicago, Issue 246 : Nov 12–18, 2009 

Beneath Dagmar Varady’s slightly nerdy but refreshing fascination with science is an understanding of its potential to answer metaphysical questions.

Varady has exhibited her work throughout central Europe for several years, presenting concept pieces at expected venues such as Art Basel while collaborating with institutions like the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials in Halle, Germany, to bring art into scientists’ workplaces.

“Redden” grows out of the German artist’s interest in cloud mapping: the attempt to predict and understand the formations of clouds. Varady relates this to her broader curiosity about science’s ability to identify and catalog any unexpected patterns that emerge from the chaos of nature. Her red ink on vellum drawings appear to be incomplete signals—brief, disjointed impressions of cultural symbols and biological structures. Composed of small pixel-like dots, they rely on the human eye’s innate need to make sense of and synthesize the information it receives.

The series progresses along the perimeter of the gallery, shifting in scale from cells at the microscopic level to veins and organs to complex biological forms such as racehorses, glimpses of priests in procession and the backs and sides of women’s faces and necks. Varady leads up to pieces that evoke the cultural, religious and scientific systems humans use to study the world around us. Though her drawings have an appealing simplicity, Varady engages in a serious effort to work out her perception of the world through her art. If most artists share this quest, “Redden” articulates it in a particularly clear and exciting way.

- CW