Contemporary Hungarian art on display in New York

Contemporary Hungarian art from the collection of the National Bank of Hungary has gone on display in the Fridman Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and will be open to the public for one month.

Abstraction in Hungary

According to Fridman Gallery’s official site, in the landscape of twentieth-century art, abstraction stands out for its remarkable adaptability and ongoing reinvention. Drawing inspiration from diverse fields such as ecology, design, science, and psychology, abstract art has continuously evolved in response to shifts in society and our perception of the world. Additionally, the way we interpret an abstract work is often shaped by our understanding of the artist’s local context.

At the start of the twentieth century, abstraction signaled the dawn of modernism, revolutionizing painting and sculpture by breaking away from the traditional focus on representation. As it sought to reflect the era’s technological and social transformations, abstraction aimed to create a universal visual language, transcending cultures but still carrying local significance. Abstract Narratives delves into this phenomenon, spotlighting artists from specific regions whose distinct approaches raise questions about the historiography and regional influences on abstract art.

Hungarian abstraction, in its early development, was shaped by internationally recognized artists like László Moholy-Nagy, Lajos Kassák, and György Kepes, who left Hungary before or shortly after World War II. Following Hungary’s communist takeover in 1948, abstraction was denounced as imperialist, bourgeois, and counter to the working class. By the 1960s, in Hungary and other Soviet-bloc countries, abstraction not only served as a contrast to the figurative nature of socialist realism but also became a symbol of political resistance and artistic freedom. While incorporating global styles like gestural and color-field painting, Hungarian abstraction explored its own role within the nation’s social, architectural, and design context. Influenced by Kassák’s constructivist ideas and Moholy-Nagy’s focus on pure composition, the Hungarian abstract movement was defined by clean forms, vibrant colors, sharp edges, and smooth surfaces that concealed the artist’s hand.

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The 1980s and the fall of the Iron Curtain opened up new possibilities for artistic experimentation. However, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that abstraction experienced a true “revival,” driven by the rise of media, the internet, digital tools, and globalism. In Eastern Europe, artists who lived through World War II, communism, and the tumultuous shift to capitalism in the 1990s have responded to these new global trends in ways distinct from younger generations. Contemporary abstract artists now work within a platform shaped by technological and formal innovation, facilitated by the accessibility of public media. Yet, at the heart of their work lie personal stories, which often serve as the key to understanding their conceptual choices and artistic methods. Abstract Narratives seeks to dismantle rigid frameworks of judgment, embracing abstraction as a global language that transcends borders, expressed through personal, historical, and sometimes ideological lenses.

Contemporary Hungarian art in NY

The exhibition entitled Abstract Narratives features works by

Zsófi BARABÁS, Róbert BATYKÓ, Erika FÁBIÁN, István FELSMANN, Ferenc FICZEK, Márk FRIDVALSZKI, Andreas FOGARASI, György GÁSPÁR, Simon HANTAI, Rita KOSZORÚS, Márton NEMES, Dia PINTÉR, Judit REIGL, Anthony VASQUEZ.

Central bank deputy governor Barnabás Virág told the opening event on Saturday that the bank, following the example of other central banks worldwide, had set up a contemporary art collection in 2020. By now, it includes some 1,400 works, and after New York, the exhibition will travel to 14 cities in Europe and Asia.

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