Gyula Várnai is returning with a solo exhibition at acb Plus after his last show in 2021. His new work revisits one of the central motifs of his oeuvre: the book, and in a broader sense, the theme of knowledge transmission.
In recent decades, Várnai has frequently reflected on scientific and science-fiction topics in his exhibitions, and now he highlights the stark differences between digitalization and printed book culture.
While acquiring knowledge used to demand great attention and energy over the centuries, modern projects with high publicity, like Neuralink implanted in the human brain, offer the illusion that acquiring knowledge has become infinitely simpler and shorter in duration.
Várnai reflects on these dilemmas with his own artistic tools, as he did in his public artwork realized in the summer of 2024, where the audience could climb a giant bookshelf in Ferenc Square in Budapest.
His works in the acb Plus exhibition also reflect on these questions through their technique, including several artworks created with a 3D pen, as well as light installations combined with them.