Peter Botos is a renowned Hungarian glass artist known for his geometric abstract sculptures and minimalist approach to glass art. Born in 1945, Botos has had a diverse and interesting life that eventually led him to become a celebrated figure in the world of contemporary glass art.

Early Life and Career

Before his artistic career, Botos was involved in athletics. In 1962, he became the junior Hungarian champion in javelin throw. He later obtained a master’s degree in sociology from Eötvös Lóránd University’s Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology.

Botos’s interest in glass art began as a hobby, focusing on minerals, crystals, and glass. In 1989, at the age of 44, he founded his workshop and started working with optical glass to produce high-precision components for optical instruments and industrial devices.

Artistic Development

Botos’s artistic style is characterized by formal clarity and meticulous execution, influenced by Constructivist abstract art. He works primarily with optical glass, shaping components through cold working techniques. His sculptures often consist of simple geometric shapes, using different component sizes, adhesives, finishes, and glasses of varying colors and refractive indices to create complex internal images.

His artistic approach is deeply influenced by Hungarian art traditions, particularly the works of Lajos Kassak, Victor Vasarely, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Botos has described his sculptures as “geometric baroque”.

Exhibitions

Peter Botos held his first solo exhibition, titled “Kockázat” (A Square Deal), in 2004 at the age of 59. Since then, he has exhibited extensively both in Hungary and internationally. Some notable exhibitions include:

• “Luxury” at Glass Pyramid Gallery, Budapest (2007)
• “Transparency in plane and space” with painter István Haász, Broft Glass Gallery, Leerdam, Netherlands (2011)
• “Fragile Light” with photographer Ágnes Szél, Pepper Art Gallery, Budapest (2012)
• “Shining” at Gestalt Gallery, Pietrasanta, Italy (2015)
• “Color breakdown” at ByArt Gallery, Budapest (2016)
• 9th Beijing International Art Biennale, National Art Museum of China, Beijing (2022)
  
  

Awards and Recognitions

Throughout his career, Botos has received several awards for his work in glass art:

• Special Jury Prize and Audience Prize at the 1st International Silicate Art Triennial, Kecskemét (2005)
• Special Prize in the Applied Arts category at Hungarian Handicrafts (2005)
• Special Prize at the Jewelry competition of the Museum of Applied Arts in Žilina (2011)
• Selected for SOFA Chicago exhibition (2014)
• Noémi Ferenczy Award (2015)
• Hungarian Electrographic Society MET Award (2018, together with Kelle Antal)
  
  

Professional Affiliations

Botos is a member of several professional organizations, including:

• National Association of Hungarian Artists
• Association of Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists
• Association of Hungarian Glass Artists
• MKISZ Sculptor Department
  
  

Legacy and Influence

Peter Botos has made significant contributions to the field of glass art, particularly in Hungary. He has shared his knowledge by tutoring students at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. His work has been exhibited worldwide, including in the United States, China, United Kingdom, and Italy.

Botos continues to develop his glass art, focusing on the relationship between directed lights, his sculptures, and their environment. His ongoing exploration and innovation in the medium have earned him a respected place in the contemporary glass art world.

In his own words, Botos sees himself as still running a “glass marathon,” continuously developing his art to please collectors and glass sculpture enthusiasts. His dedication to his craft and his unique approach to glass sculpture have solidified his position as a notable figure in the world of contemporary glass art.

Artist Statement:

My sculptures are made from high purity optical glass blocks by so-called cold machining technologies (cutting, buffing, polishing, gluing), using the most advanced materials with one hundredth of a millimeter precision. Because of the special materials applied and the very precise technology, the size of the sculptures is limited.

My objective is to create a new spectacle and impressive visual enjoyment so far mostly unknown to the public, by deliberately using the physical and optical characteristics of glass.

Transparency and opacity, multiple reflections inside a sculpture and the resulting grids, colors which appear either in full length or only on the surface, the inner spaces of the sculpture and the outer spaces set into motion by them are all important elements of my sculptures.

I have been focusing recently on considering the relationship between directed lights and sculptures as a system of lenses, in addition to showing movements and changes, and ‘filling up’ big spaces visually. These issues are influenced by the work of László Moholy-Nagy, György Kepes and Nicolas Schöffer.