The exhibition entitled Origin, held on the third floor of the Modem, interprets the five books of Moses from the Bible, the prehistory of mankind, the basis of the value system of the cultures defined by Judaism and Christianity, from the perspective of the 21st century man, with the help of contemporary Hungarian artists.
The works highlight a major theme or an essential aspect of a particular story, in order to draw the attention of today’s viewer not only to the familiar scenes of the Old Testament, but also to their specific meanings and possible interpretations that are relevant to us today. The exhibition was preceded by the Gospel 21 collection, presented at Modem four years ago, which explored twelve key messages from the four Gospels of the New Testament through the work of twelve artists in different media.
The exhibited works are part of the private collection of Levente Kovács, who, as a committed patron of the arts, decided to support the creation of works that can help today’s viewers to look at the problems of the present from a different perspective by exploring works that deal with the interpretation of the textual message of biblical stories. What makes the exhibition so interesting is that visitors can see interpretations that encourage them to reflect on and reread the Mosaic books.
Levente Kovács and Zsolt Petrányi, the curator of the project, have invited artists who have worked in different media and whose work has already explored the theme or whose work is close to the subject of the exhibition. As in Gospel 21, the entire collection is made up of works by twelve artists who have approached the task with a wide variety of approaches. In addition to the most well-known scenes from the Old Testament, such as the story of Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, Jacob’s wheelbarrow, the Ten Plagues and the Ten Commandments, the artists have also explored a number of other exciting aspects.
The exhibiting artists represent several generations. All of them are known to the public from exhibitions at the best institutions in their home country and abroad. Their work is diverse, covering a range of media and themes. Following their invitation to participate in the Origin project, a long preparatory process began. From time to time, individual research and sketches were presented and discussed with the theologian Professor József Zsengellér.
The result is a coordinated body of work, in which the diversity of the works is given by the multifaceted approaches to the themes, whether in painting, installation, graphics, photography or animation, and which, in addition to their unique message, ask how they can be updated today, in the 21st century. They also reflect the question of how archaic texts and traditions of religious representations can be updated in the 21st century, and how modern man can be addressed by the multifaceted stories of the origins of the world, the first human couple, sin, sacrifice, hope and morality.
Following a preview in Rome, the first national exhibition of the Origin collection will now take place at Modem, where all the pieces of the thematic collection will be on display. The third-floor exhibition space allows the works to be presented in biblical order, allowing visitors to discover the twelve stories presented by the artists, from the creation of the world to the arrival in the Promised Land.
The creator of the collection and initiator of the exhibition is Levente Kovács.