The exhibition *Symphony in color: The Pécs School* attempts to outline a distinctive creative approach that is rooted locally yet fits into broader art-historical contexts. It presents a group of artists whose work is formally interconnected, who share visual and intellectual affinities spanning multiple generations, and who are connected to the city of Pécs as well as to the institutional and intellectual milieu of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Pécs.
Beginning in the second half of the 20th century, Pécs became one of the defining centers of Hungarian and Central European contemporary art. Avant-garde traditions, a multidisciplinary approach to the arts, and an experimental attitude were already strongly present in the city’s cultural fabric even during the socialist era. This milieu not only preserved but also reinterpreted and passed on these trends, thereby shaping a distinctive and recognizable artistic language.
This exhibition focuses on the field of fine arts and presents a selection of works by thirty-two artists. The exhibition centers on the question of whether we can speak of a “Pécs School” as an artistic movement, and if so, what claims we can make about it. In this interpretation, the concept is not an institutional or stylistically homogeneous category, but rather a network of connections identifiable in retrospect: a dynamic system of creators, masters, and students, as well as parallel individual bodies of work. The title “SzínPhonia” refers to this, as well as to the resonance with other art forms, and pays tribute to the movement’s complexity. Most of the artists featured in the exhibition are closely connected to the School, while others have looser ties, thus illustrating the movement’s openness and the versatility of the Faculty of Fine Arts.
Exhibiting Artists:
Zoltán ÁDÁM · István BENCSIK · Diána BÓBICS · József BULLÁS · Colin FOSTER · Ágnes ELŐD · András ERNSZT · Tamás GAÁL · Tibor GYENIS · Csaba HEGYI · Csaba Árpád HORVÁTH · Ilona KESERÜ · Károly KISMÁNYOKY · Ferenc LANTOS · András LENGYEL · Péter LENGYEL · István LOSONCZY · Ferenc MARTYN · Gergely MÉSZÁROS · Csaba NEMES · Márta NYILAS · Dóra PALATINUS · József PALOTÁS · Sándor PINCZEHELYI · Sándor RÉTFALVI · István RIGÓ · Péter SOMODY · Zsuzsa TÓTH · Ernő TOLVALY · László VALKÓ · Ferenc VARGA · Victor VASARELY