János Vető


János Vető is a Hungarian visual artist, photographer, video artist, musician, songwriter, singer and composer. He has been involved with non-conformist photo art, visual art and alternative music culture since the late '60s.

Biography

Vető was born in Budapest in 1953. He was a child actor at Madách Theater in Budapest. He has been active in photography, film and music since the late '60s. In 1962 he met :hu:Baksa-Soós János|János Baksa Soós, singer of the band :hu:Kex|Kex. He collaborated with Kex on some of their concerts in 1969-70. He was an intern at the Hungarian News Agency where he worked together with :hu:Molnár Gergely |Gergely Molnár, singer of the band Spions. Vető was the photographer, assistant, cameraman, permanent co-worker of the performance artist :hu:Hajas Tibor|Tibor Hajas from 1976 until Hajas's death in 1980. In the '80s, he created paintings, sculpture and installations with the painter Lóránt Méhes Zuzu using the name Zuzu-Vető. He founded the band Trabant with Gábor Lukin and :hu:Méhes Marietta|Marietta Méhes in 1981. Vető has been living in Denmark and Sweden since the early '90s. He deals with digital image making, writes lyrics and music, sings, plays the ukulele and the kaossilator.
rom 1990 he is from time to time collaborating with the swedish artist Maria Lavman Vetö. They have made several installation- and musicprojects. They are married and are living together.

Career

Vető founded the Apropos Film Photo experimental film and photo studio with his friends around 1966-67 and the art action group KOMMUNART in 1972. His experimental music bands, playing intuitive music, are Kec-Mec, Apropos Filmphoto Cartoonband and Hymnus. His first solo photography exhibition, Spárgatárlat, was held at Bercsényi Club in Budapest in 1974. His photographs are considered to be exceptional because of their progressivity and sensitivity.
"...his photographic work that radically challenged the conventions of portraits, self-portraits, and nudes..."
Vető collaborated with the body artist Tibor Hajas. Between 1976 and 1980, as Hajas's photographer, co-worker and friend, Vető participated in the preparation and implementation of Hajas's performances as well as in the creation of works based on the performances which were published under both of their names.
Vető founded "postmodernist social-impressionist neo-barbaric" art with painter Lóránt Méhes Zuzu in 1981. They created drawings, paintings, sculpture and textile works using the name Zuzu-Vető. They applied markers, coloured pencils, brushes and spray and decorated their paintings and textile works with beads, feathers and various everyday objects. Stones, bones and transistors were applied on their sculptures, and they named their extremely colourful installations made by using blue vitriol and powder paint as "gardens". Each of their solo exhibitions is an installation that consists of their works and impromptu sculptures, their personal belongings as well as found objects.
Vető founded the band Trabant with Gábor Lukin and :hu:Méhes Marietta|Marietta Méhes in 1981, providing the script ideas and the characters for film director and screenwriter :hu:Xantus János |János Xantus' film :hu:Eszkimó asszony fázik|Eskimo Woman Feels Cold. His other ensembles/groups: Malter és Vödör, Gagarin Pilótazenekar, Európa Kiadó. He founded I.M.A. with Ivan E. Vincze in Copenhagen in 1998.
Since the '90s Vető has also been dealing with digital music and digital image making. He creates digital prints and videos using the name NahTe. One of his favorite materials is the bubble wrap used for packaging that he adopts as a base for paintings, sculptures, photos and videos.
In the summer of 2018 Vető created the Jó idő album with the members of the band :hu:Balaton |Balaton.

Exhibitions

Selected solo exhibitions