Imre Bak exhibition in Balatonfüred
The Vaszary Gallery's exhibition entitled Helyzetek (Situations) is the first time that Imre Bak's series created between 2004 and 2022 are presented, showing the evolution of his oeuvre. Each section of the exhibition will focus on the main groups of works from the newer phases of his work, showing how the semantic play of geometric abstraction and figurative associations is returning to Bak's art, how the newer works are characterised by the duality of hard edge painting and digital allusions and the sensual vibrancy of metaphysical spaces, and how Bak is rethinking the traditions of (geometric) painting and his own motif set.
Imre Bak is one of the most important artists of the Hungarian neo-avant-garde. Almost from the beginning, his oeuvre is defined by geometric imagery based on hard edge painting. Step by step, Bak re-frames and reinterprets his painting, which unfolds as a coherent train of thought, in the context of post painterly abstraction in the sixties, conceptual art in the seventies and later a postmodernist imagery. Since the 2000s, Bak's geometric painting has been increasingly influenced by impulses from digital visuals and post-medial imagery.
Imre Bak's art has recently attracted considerable international attention: his paintings have recently been included in the collections of the Tate in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and his art has been given an important overview in István Hajdu's monograph (2003) and the Paks Gallery's Aktuális időtlen (Timely Timelessness). However, no overview of the most recent periods of his oeuvre (since the publication of the 2003 monograph) has been published. The Balatonfüred exhibition aims to fill this gap. The title of the exhibition evokes the ambiguous title of the image often used by the artist in recent years, which simultaneously refers to the situation of forms, the new constellations that emerge during the (re)development of his oeuvre, and the existential situations that motivate change.
(Dávid Fehér)
Exhibition venue: Vaszary Gallery, Balatonfüred
Opening planned for January-May 2023
