Image praxes

Painters and graphic artists, those who engaged in the classical varieties of the visual arts, looked upon photography as a rival form of expression for a long time. Later, a dialogue began, still ongoing, with philosophical and aesthetic underpinnings. Endless possibilities of “making pictures,” of image praxes, came to be recognized. The viewpoint of the photographer sets in motion a train of ideas, offers an original aesthetic.

The three artists featured, László Hegedűs 2, Jenő Lévay and Dezső Váli travel their own ways. Whether their photographs be plans for works or found objects, the three artists share a tendency to refer to visual sources, to use photos for multiple purposes, and as food for thought. They know, sense the truth of, and reflect on, Baudrillard’s idea that “the stake will always have been the murderous power of images, murderers of the real, murderers of their own model.” Three parallel, life-long experiments, whose lines always in search of new directions, now in Műcsarnok.

György Szegő

2 2TWO – László Hegedűs 2 earned recognition in the early 1980s with his graphic works, as one of his generation’s most original masters of serigraphy, a printmaking method then at its height, and as the most innovative, experimenting artist in contemporary animation. Whilst his tools are seemingly traditional, his strategy is to probe deep into phenomena, to look behind appearances and reveal hidden connections. His works usually focus on death and impermanence. Whatever the form of art, László Hegedűs 2 always employs visual solutions and associations of ideas that are out of the ordinary. Found, sought-out and prepared objects, motifs, images and ideas are the constituents of his oeuvre. The exhibit presents his series of digital images, some of which employ a special, so-called lenticular technique. Two larger, text-centred conceptual installations provide a context and background for the two-dimensional works that are presented in groups.
Curator: József Készman

Transfer point – The concept of layering, both in its spatial and temporal sense, is key to Jenő Lévay’s art. He himself defines the process as “dialogic form.” The photographic image of a real object is fed into a computer, and then returns to reality in the layer that emerges after the artistic interventions. The works presented at the exhibition, which form series, are all impressions and documents of one artistic action or another. The titles are expressive: Sigh Ladders, Videotiluses, Timekeeper, Thought Shares, Paternoster, Exchange Space, Massive Luck. The exhibition also presents installations made from objects of use, and the video work called Liszt-transcliptions. Visitors will have an opportunity to make their own harmonograms, and study the relationships of the images.
Curator: Mária Kondor-Szilágyi

Deske.hu – Since the beginnings, Dezső Váli’s ascetic art has been marked by an intense sacrality. Following the characteristic “ways of the cross” of the early abstract works, he discovered the painterly subject of “Jewish cemeteries,” which was to be followed, over two decades ago, by the “studio pictures,” explorations of what can be considered private sacral spaces. The characteristic intimacy and introversion of his works is counterpointed by the curious, artistic extroversion that moves Váli to document his life and oeuvre with extraordinary precision, and make the result accessible for the world via the internet. This display seeks to capture this distinctive duality with the help of paintings, photographs, filmic and sounding documents, as well as installations.
Curator: Zoltán Rockenbauer