B E C O M I N G
D E N I S P I E C E
Dancer with sight photographer with vision artist with style a a an
dear viewer
this portfolio will walk you through an artist journey coming from the ballet world into the art of photography. denis piece journey is remarkable and his art is ever evolving. this portfolio is specialy made for art galleries, ballet companies and creative agencies through out the world. it containes an introduction video from his former dancer career following by his artistic periods as a photographer.
Denis Piece
Was born as Dénes Darab in Miskolc, East-North of Hungary
He began his studies as a ballet dancer in Budapest at the age of ten
By the age of sixteen he had traveled to Norway to guest perform with a modern ballet in Bergen
At the age of eighteen he was guesting in Tokio, Japan. He began his professional career at the age of twenty with The Slovenian National Theater, with the leadership of World Famous Choreographer Edward Clug.
He was touring internationally.
Later in 2010 he joined the company of Orlando Ballet in the US. At the end of the season he has guest traveled to South Korea to a World Star Ballet Gala, performing in five different cities among Seoul.
Then he joined back to his previous company and toured the Globe including cities like St, Petersburg, Cremona, New York, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rome, and Dubrovnik Art Festival, among many others
With Photography he met for the first time in 2013 before joining the Hungarian National Ballet
But truly he started taking pictures in 2015 after he saw the movie called, The Salt of The Earth.
After one year of practice he held his first Solo Exhibition at The Italian Institute of Culture Budapest.
After 18 months of practice he took a break for 18 months, because his first son was born
He only wanted to focus on his family beside dancing at the time
In 2018 traveling to New York with The Hungarian State Opera House he returned to the Art Form And then won the 2019 Fashion Street Award in Photography Category.
At the end of 2019, he stopped again because his second son was born
He believes in quality time spending
By the year of 2021 he was eager to start again and form a New Style.
He began experimenting with building set designs but in the meantime his obsession with Fashion Photography truly started to nurture.
Denis Piece has a truly interesting life story coming from a small town in the mountains, dropped in the capital “alone” at ten years old by the end of the 90’s.
His relationship with his parents were complicated. Between the age of 18 to 25 he used drugs, and Jazz music was very influential on his work and life. He used to go to the local Jazz Clubs and Art Galleries in Maribor or wherever he was Guesting
Only in the United States were clean during this period of his life, as he described it was the Best professional experience as a Ballet dancer and where he felt fulfilled professionally He used to go to the local Gym instead of Jazz clubs
By the time he returned to Hungary and met his future wife, his only drugs were music.
His Portfolio contains his early works from Architecture photography, through the Ballet works to his first series of New York, called New York from Fine Art to Minimalism.
Then we focus on, on his journey through the Color Dimensions into Fashion Photography.
denis piece artistic periods can be divided into three categories;
Black & White / Color & Fashion
His work is characterized by the following styles; Abstraction, Fine Art, Minimalism, Black and White, Classical, Conceptual
2015-17
black & white color fashion
2022-
2018-21
black & white / 2015-17 / the
denis piece in his first artistic period was only shooting in black&white. this era contains his early works streching from behind the scenes imagery with the hungarian national ballet in to the open fields of budapest and closing it with his first portfolio from new york. interestingly he closed and later continued his repertoire from new york, venturing into the color sphere.
n t e n t s
new york
from fine art to minimalism
behind the scenes
the hungarian state opera house with
portraits without faces
karina sarkissova / the nutcracker / 2015
swan lake / budapest / 2015
the falling angels
rita hangya / falling angels / 2016
lilla purszky / falling angels / 2016
lilla purszky / falling angels / 2016
lilla purszky / falling angels / 2016
nika k. crnic / falling angels / 2016
nika k crnic / falling angels / 2016
nika k crnic / falling angels / 2016
nika k. crnic / falling angels / 2016
special edition
denis held his first major solo exhibition at the italian institute of culture, budapest after less then one year of practice
his master, eifert jános at the time taught him about the bravery of rotating and using freely his camera and drew his attention to his strenght about using the contrast of sharp and out of focus style on his work, which later shaped his individual style.
mermaid / denis piece / 2016
eiffel art studios / denis piece / 2017
new york
/2016/
autumn in new york
from fine art to minimalism
Although it wasn't his first time in New York, it was a special occasion for him.
He has traveled to perform at the united nations headquarters on the 60th anniversary of the 1956 hungarian revolution.
As he described it, it was a very sensitive time for him personally and he tried to completely immerse himself into the feelings of that occasion.
That resulted in a mixtured feeling being alone there on the streets but feeling the sorrow for the heroes of his nation.
river / chargin bull / new york / 2016
china town / new york / 2016
/ 2018- /
the begining of a new era
Before traveling to New York City, Piece consciously was preparing for his New Series.
He watched the national geographic series about the life of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso. He was looking for the main driving force in those two geniuses of the 20th century.
He knew he would like to honor this series to the great American photographer, Brett Weston. By the time he arrived in the United States he had a clear vision of what he would like to create. This Series is dedicated to the great American artist Brett Weston.
building set design
behind the scenes
art directing
The Journey Trilogy
This was the first time Denis built a complete set design for his artistic vision.
It was very important for him to record the construction process and to give the opportunity for the viewers to see how an artistic vision comes to life in the physical plane.
Denis designed the clothes as well and he did organise and build every aspect of the “performance”
It was also the first time for him to direct a movie, from every camera angle to the final cut of the movie.
fashion
fashion world venturing into the
tóth bori / budapest / 2022
aubade paris x karl lagerfeld / budapest / 2022
experimental
different fields
Denis Piece is a one of a kind Artist, coming from the Ballet field diving into the photography art world and always venturing into new territories.
He is always looking for new directions in his creative fields and constantly moving into higher dimensions in his personal journey. His new directions are in the moving images but he is also interested in painting. he did a side research in the field of image creating ai softwares as well, As he described it, it was a very interesting way to discover what might be moving our own subconscious.
is a tool
to search our subconcious
first floor / denis piece / 2023
childs room / denis piece / 2023
back to the roots
the hungarian dance university
invited denis piece to hold a presentation about the relationship and connections in the artforms of dance and photography.
He divided into three parts of his presentation based around the following topics; the body, mind and spirit / the flow experience / and the multi dimensional thinking. he also received an assignment for an artistic portfolio to create for the university, based around they performances and to showcase they seven majors. The University will celebrate its foundation’s 75th anniversary next year.
behind the scenes
the hungarian dance university with
HUNGARIAN DANCE UNIVERSITY
the road to the
gfx 100 II
When Denis Piece received his assignment from the university , he proposed a creative work as well for the assignment.
He chose seven different visual concepts to showcase the seven different majors. during his last location he had the privilege to work with the Fujifilm gfx 100 ii. He knew immediately that he would love to work with medium format from now on.
The last location for his assignment was very special because it is not yet open to the public and there has never been an artistic photo shoot before. The nearly finished Biodome at the Budapest Zoo where he had the opportunity to try the gfx 100ii for the first time.
set and costume designer creative and art director
an homage to martin munkacsi
exhibitions / awards
ballet based upon geometry / Italian Institute of Culture / 2016
the beauties and i / anker’t budapest / 2017
bar margaux / south kensington, london / 2018
united nations / new york, us / 2018
fashion street award / deák palace / budapest / 2019
merrit award / black&white magazin / 2018
merrit award for portfolio / black&white magazin / 2018
light essence / gallery max, budapest / 2021
private nft exhibition / rakpart budapest / 2022
auction / grasham palace, budapest / 2023
