In 1993, the first International Symposium on Light was held at the museum in Eger, where the work of György Kepes, who opened up new horizons in the creative use of light, was presented. It is perhaps no coincidence that the idea for this forum was conceived in Hungary, as there are few other places whose natives have taken part in the history of light art in such a profound and diverse way as László Moholy-Nagy, György Kepes, Nicolas Schöffer, Gyula Kosice and the next generation of artists who have continued their legacy.
Victor Vasarely, a Hungarian-born artist who developed his visual research into an independent stylistic direction, also incorporated the results of light kinetics into his creative method. The artist favoured optical illusions based on the interplay of time and space, in which directed light created the illusion of apparent movement and a three-dimensional object.
Although Victor Vasarely, who worked in a geometric-concrete style, and György Kepes, known for his lyrical gestural painting, represented two opposite poles of abstraction, they were united by a belief and conviction in the power of communal art. In the spirit of a utopia of a more livable, richer and more beautiful future, they sought to articulate ideas that they believed would help to bring back into everyday life ‘the lost splendour of nature’.
The members of the International Kepes Society were founded in 1996 with the aim of strengthening cooperation between the natural and social sciences. It was founded as an organisation whose fundamental aim was to bring about ground-breaking research results that could be translated into tangible works of art through a productive dialogue between scientists and artists.
The members of the International Kepes Society, which created the Light Symposia, include many artists experimenting with light as an autonomous medium. A representative selection of their work is on display in this exhibition.
Exhibiting artists: Carlo BERNARDINI, Michael BLEYENBERG, Zoltán BOHUS, Bálint BOLYGÓ, Zsolt László BORDOS, Éva BORTNYIK – Csaba TUBÁK, Attila CSÁJI, Dieter JUNG, Antal KELLE, György KEPES, KUCHTA Klára, LUGOSSY Mária, LUX Antal, MATTIS-TEUTSCH Waldemár, MENGYÁN András, Vera MOLNÁR, PÓCSY Ferenc, SZVET Tamás, TELEK Balázs, Victor VASARELY, WALICZKY Tamás