Unframed Landscape

Artists: Balázs Beöthy, Ivan Bura, Péter Császar, János Fodor, Andrea Huszár, Tibor Iski Kocsis, Csaba Nemes, Ana Opalic, Matko Vekic

Curators: Maja and Reuben Fowkes

The group exhibition Unframed Landscapes offers a reassessment of landscape as a genre in contemporary art. The conventional understanding of landscape implies a picturesque view of the countryside – images of ruined castles, a lonely tree in the puszta and romantic seaside villages come to mind. This quintessentially Nineteenth Century view of landscape has been revealed as culturally-constructed, the product of political ideologies, and conveying human domination over nature. Furthermore, landscape is perceived through a frame by a distant spectator, who remains alienated from the object of his gaze. In contrast, this exhibition suggests ‘unframed’ ways of seeing and experiencing nature, that are more in tune with contemporary culture and environmental thinking.

Our changing relationship with nature is explored across the full range of contemporary artistic media, from painting, sculpture and photography, to installation art. What the works have in common is their focus on the meaning of landscape today, both for artistic expression and for society as a whole. Contemporary art here acts as a barometer of society’s relationship to nature, by talking about how our culture views and experiences the natural world. The presented artworks also have the ambition to challenge and even alter our assumptions about nature, and bring about greater environmental attunement.

The independent curators Maja and Reuben Fowkes have invited six Hungarian and three Croatian artists to participate in this exhibition. Following its showing at the ICA Dunaújváros, Unframed Landscapes will travel to the Gallery of Extended Media in Zagreb. Before the opening, an art circle time with the participating artists will be held to foster conversation about Unframed Landscapes.