Concept, Description, Performance, AI
The artist has held nearly 50 fashion shows at embassies, prestigious art galleries, museums, theaters, and beautiful downtown squares (London, Paris, Moscow, Budapest, Pécs). These events featured not only models but also actresses, ballet dancers, and drag queens, with programs ranging from classical piano concerts to the most modern music, balancing between “Chic and Shock” and “Prestige and Provocation”.
Exhibitions
2023 – Fantasy Paraphrase – House of Arts and Literature, Pécs, Hungary
AI and fashion show. The collection was accompanied by paraphrase-like AI-generated images on a screen.
2021 – Fashion Show/Paintings/Performance – UNESCO Awarded Student Festival, Pécs, Hungary
Ballet dancers showcased the artist’s paintings printed on designer pieces of clothing, while detailed enlargements of the original art on the large stage-length screen served as the backdrop.
2015 – Fashion Show/Paintings/Performance – Kodály Center, Pécs, Hungary
The Geishabride collection’s bridal gowns.
2014 – Fashion Show, Painting, and Performance – Nick Art Gallery, Pécs, Hungary
Painting-dress paraphrases: Live performance featuring models dressed in clothes from the Geishabride and the Starving Beauty series with paintings from these series.
2010 – Fashion Show and Paintings – Nádor Gallery, Pécs, Hungary
Exhibition of early non-figurative paintings, including “The Risk of Playing Chess with God.”
2008 – Fashion Show and Paintings – Aulich Art Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
The Modern Venus series and early non-figurative paintings by models and renowned prima ballerinas: The highlight of the event was a performance by a ballerina wrapped in medical gauze in front of the Modern Venus II painting.
Paintings
2021 – 2023 Miss P. Series
Irony and Humor – Miss P. Series
The series unveils the ironic side of modern femininity through the character of Miss P., a symbol of the woman under social pressure. The works titled “Trapeze” and “Bridge” critique political and cultural narratives with dark humor and a powerful visual world.
Miss P. Is So Enjoying Brexit (Trapeze) (2021)
A cadaver-like white woman hanging upside down on the trapeze, with a grotesque smile, symbolizes the “troubled country” due to Brexit. The artwork is both ironic and unsettling, offering a strong social commentary on the helplessness felt over modern political discourses.
Miss P. Is Doing Great (The Bridge) (2022)
“The Bridge” presents the absurdity of modern life and the societal pressure on women. With a distinctive ironic style, it reveals the stark contrast between societal expectations and reality.
Miss P. Joyfully Unveils the Naked Truth (2022) – Modern Venus II Painting and Performance
A female figure undergoing plastic surgery rests comfortably under a green medical sheet with an open belly, as if she is enjoying the procedure. The piece comments on the commodification of beauty and urges the viewer to question modern cultural norms.
The inspiration behind this piece came from a fitting that took place in Adele Frank’s salon. The client arrived covered in bandages after her liposuction surgery, excitedly announcing that – thanks to the procedure – she would soon be able to fit into the desired dress. However, as she changed into the dress, blood began to seep through her fresh bandages.
Painting-Dress-Jewelry Paraphrase (2014 – Today)
Adele Frank’s art creates a unique symbiosis between fashion and fine art, where refined couture elegance is translated into contemporary, conceptual forms. Her paintings and garment creations engage in a close visual and technical dialogue, particularly through her distinctive crumpled sewing technique that generates three-dimensional, textured surfaces. The technique was inspired by the 19th century bustle dresses. These 3D textures allow figurative representations in her paintings to emerge from the canvas. The garments also employ this crumpled sewing technique, creating a paraphrase-like visual parallel where fashion and painting reflect upon each other, blurring the boundary between two dimensions.
Adele Frank’s artistic creations extend beyond clothing and paintings. Accessories made from painter’s canvas, metal, and pearls are intricately tied to the motifs found in her garments, creating a cohesive unity where their wearers also become integral part of the artwork.
Central to Adele Frank’s artistry are questions surrounding female identity, often reflecting on the societal and political contexts of beauty. Her work delicately balances aesthetic timelessness with modern provocation, seeking dialogues between classical and contemporary expressions of femininity, thus offering new perspectives on the relationship between female identity and power.
Painting-Dress Paraphrase II. (2022)
The piece depicts a painted silk dress, designed with a focus on expressing the relationship between the body and the material. The motifs on the dress are rendered in vibrant colors, while the same pattern and form are visible in the accompanying painting, visually linking the two mediums. A necklace made of Tahitian pearl and silver adorns the neckline of the dress. The piece serves as a visual paraphrase of the fusion of free, fluid movement and form, based on the dialogue between the oil painting and the dress.
2020
Modern Venus V (2020)
A painting-dress paraphrase with crumpled sewing technique. The piece is a dynamic yet thought-provoking portrayal of the extreme form of femininity. Thanks to the textures created by her signature crumpled sewing technique, the figurative representations in the paintings emerge from the canvas. This approach creates a paraphrase-like visual parallel where fashion and painting reflect upon each other, blurring the boundary between two dimensions. The painting was created after a media appearance in a magazine.
2019
Transvestite Diva on the Runway (2019)
The piece explores the boundaries of identity and gender. The designer featured drag queens in several fashion shows, feeling that their extreme femininity perfectly suited the presentation of her clothing collections. The painting was created after a photo of said runways appeared in a magazine.
2017
Introducing Mary Bride (2017, 2018) – Painting – Book CoverTwo paintings portraying the protagonist of the artist’s first novel, Mary Bride. The novel is filled with mysteries and follows the tradition of classic English detective fiction.
2014-2018
Geishabride Concept – Starving Beauty Series – Flags (Painting-Dress Paraphrases from 2014)
In her paintings of dresses, a distinctive crumpled sewing application technique is used to create unique 3D effects.
Starving Beauty Series
The modern woman undergoing strict diets and brutal, unnecessary plastic surgeries in the name of ‘beauty’ has become a target of commercial profit, forced into the illusion of perfection.
The Geishabride (2014) Self-Portrait 1 and 2
The hidden paradox of putting femininity on a pedestal. The symbols of the geisha and the bride simultaneously represent the idealization of female roles and desires that serve as objects of male fantasies. Adele Frank’s paintings criticize these female roles while highlighting their complexities and contradictions.
Flags (2018-2019)
Examines the symbolism of national identity and the tensions arising from it. These works resonate particularly in today’s global socio-political climate, where national symbols act as both cohesive forces and divisive elements.
Adele Frank’s artistic creations extend beyond clothing and paintings. Her accessories, made from painter’s canvas, metal, and pearls, including pendants, hair ornaments, necklaces, and boleros, are intricately tied to the motifs found in her garments. These paraphrase pieces form a cohesive unity, making their wearers become an integral part of the artwork.
Political Art Pieces
Adele Frank’s politically charged paintings, such as The Risk of Playing Chess with God or Power is Our Pride, add deeper layers to the social critiques in her art. These works address universal political issues focusing on power, moral dilemmas, and the struggle between the individual and institutions.
These paintings can be interpreted as protests against political and social oppression, while also initiating an intellectual dialogue with the viewer, encouraging them to question the intentions behind societal and political trends.
Modern Venus IV (2007-2008)
Modern Venus IV’ combines timeless beauty with modern abstraction, emphasizing both the fragility and strength of femininity. It aims to highlight the ever-changing nature of beauty and power. Venus is not depicted as a static symbol, but as a continuously evolving narrative and with it reflects today’s cultural and aesthetic shifts. The inspirations behind the painting were the Venus of Milo, the Statue of Liberty, and the Declaration of Independence.
Modern Venus III (2008)
The artist depicts Botticelli’s Venus now behind iron bars. Continuing the exploration of her character, Adele Frank’s “Modern Venus III” examines the relationship between women and power.
Modern Venus I – Keep the shape (2007)
In 2007, the artist participated in the Pret-a-Porter Paris exhibition, where in addition to her collection, she displayed the extravagant oil-textile-inflatable sex doll metal-paper sculpture installation titled “Modern Venus – Keep the Shape,” which conveyed political and social critique.
Metal Venus I-II. (2007)
The Metal Venus I and II series are connected to the Modern Venus (Keep the shape) sculpture installation.
Power is our Pride (2007)
Power is our Pride examines the nature of power, highlighting how it can transform into both pride and tyranny. This painting critiques power structures on both national and international levels, emphasizing that possessing power is both a responsibility and a temptation, showing how individuals can become corrupt when they misuse it.
New Age (2007)
The composition visually draws attention to the alienation of human relationships in the light of the energy and promises of the new era. This work seeks balance between the natural world and the digital age, where people are both participants in progress and victims of social disconnection. The shattered cross symbolizes the values that seem to be lost with the advance of technology.
The Risk of Playing Chess with God (2006)
The Risk of Playing Chess with God centers on the endless struggle between humans and greater forces. The title alludes to political games in which individuals often lose or are forced into risky decisions.
The painting conceals deep philosophical and historical layers, inspired by philosopher Peter Popper’s work of the same title. It depicts the iconic 19th move of the 5th game in the 2004 World Chess Championship. The dark pieces represent the losing side, while the light pieces, which are not visible, symbolize victory.
In the artwork, the chessboard becomes a symbol of strategy and manipulation, while chess itself turns into a metaphor for human fate, where humanity’s self-destructive moves lead to an inevitable end. Adele Frank evokes the most devastating moments in history, such as massacres and the devastation of Hiroshima.
The losing game of the dark pieces serves as a reminder of humanity’s unavoidable destruction, whether through megalomaniac dictators, senseless wars, or the brutal tools of technological advancement.
– Queen d8: August 6, 1945, 08:15: The American Enola Gay aircraft drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb was named “Little Boy.”
– Rook e8: December 1937: 300,000 people were slaughtered and 20,000 women were raped by the Japanese during their invasion of Nanking, China.
– King g8: This star was worn by Jews under the Nazi regime.
– Rook a7: 1940: On Stalin’s orders, the NKVD murdered 21,800 Polish officers and civilians in Katyn. The massacre was denied by the Russians and attributed to the Germans.
– Pawn f7: April 22, 1915, World War I: The first use of poison gas occurred in Ypres, Belgium. The Germans placed 170 tons of chlorine gas in canisters on the front line. Posion gas became a widespread chemical weapon afterwards.
– Pawn g7: Sarajevo, 1993: In Europe’s bloody war of our time, the ethnic groups that once formed a single state slaughtered each other. One of the war’s mementos is the Sarajevo Olympic Stadium, which functioned as a cemetery.
– Pawn h7: The average age of American soldiers killed in Vietnam was 19.
– Bishop b6: Sudan-Darfur: Since 2003, armed militias have been killing civilians – estimates suggest 400,000 have died, with the massacre resembling the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
– Pawn d5: Osama Bin Laden initiated his war in the name of Islam.
– Bishop h5: Iraq: The USA admitted that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.
Restricted Area Self-Portrait (2006)
In 1949, 22-year-old model-actress Marilyn Monroe was paid $50 to pose nude for a Los Angeles photographer against a red velvet backdrop. This image later became the most famous calendar photograph in history and the main attraction of the first Playboy magazine issue. Based on the original image, Adele Frank created a new version featuring herself titled “Restricted Area.”
The painting “Restricted Area” by Adele Frank is a protest against the commodification of the female body. The painting is a reinterpretation of Marilyn Monroe’s famous calendar photo, but while Monroe’s image emphasized the market value of sexuality, Adele Frank’s work stands as its counterpoint. The artist presents her own body as the restricted area, marked off with yellow tape, inaccessible to consumer society. “Restricted Area” is an ironic reference to the historical exploitation of the female body, while also a powerful personal statement against the idea that the female body is free for exploitation.
Pleasant Calmness Series (2006)
Contrary to the title of the series, it represents the individual’s inner and outer tensions related to their partner and society.
Embrace Series (2005)
The “Embrace” series captures moments of intimacy and reflection.
Micro Macro Series (2005)
The “Micro Macro” series explores the differences between scales and dimensions through delicate and detailed compositions.