On the occasion of Hungary’s presidency of the European Union in 2011, S.M.A.K. is presenting a dialogue between the work of eight contemporary Hungarian artists and a selection of works from its own collection.
Zsolt Petrányi (former director of Mucsarnok, Kunsthalle Budapest) selected the artists and the work at the invitation of S.M.A.K. The basis for Joy and Disaster is an evaluation of the themes which provided the foundations for the Prospect 80/1 exhibition thirty years ago. For that exhibition the artistic director Jan Hoet chose six artists from the then communist Hungary. Given the circumstances at the time, the exhibition inevitably raised questions about the artist’s position in society. The artists selected then, Miklós Erdély, Tibor Hajas, András Halász, Zsigmond Károlyi, Endre Tót and János Vetö, were all members of the avant-garde movement and opposed the social system imposed from outside and the restrictions this put on artists. What united them was their abhorrence of this society and the isolation in which they were forced to work.
The commitment of the artists at that time is now echoed in the work of Tamás Kaszás, Zsolt Tibor, Emese Benczúr, Little Warsaw (András Gálik and Bálint Havas), Ádám Kokesh, Dezso Szabó, Adrián Kupcsik and SZAF (Miklós Mécs and Judit Fisher). These artists are still concerned with political, historical and social topics and the relationships between art, society and the community. Joy and Disaster is an attempt to interpret the position of the contemporary Hungarian artist in society and examines how his status has evolved since 1980. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication in Hungarian and English, including a facsimile of the catalogue from 1980.
More info: Joy and Disaster (PDF) Interviews artists
