The link between art and science can be described as the desire to understand the world, and this is the ambition that motivates the artists in the exhibition entitled Between Spheres. The interdisciplinary approach does not imply focusing on all disciplines, but rather on the specific fields of science that are typical of the contemporary collection managed by the Central Bank of Hungary (Magyar Nemzeti Bank, MNB). Thus, the main nodes are engineering, language, computer science, , natural sciences, nature conservation or the protection of heritage. The exhibition picks up where our world-renowned Hungarians – László Moholy-Nagy, György Kepes or Marcell Breuer – earned praise for the close relationship between art and science, and it focuses on the achievements of the post-1960s. The exhibition deliberately provides equal space for different generations, including artists of Hungarian origin from the internationally successful postmodern generation, the Hungarian neo-avant-garde artists or the current middle generation, as well as young talent. The exhibition broadly represents contemporary art in a technical sense as well, including paintings, sculptures, glass images, installations and other media.
The selection builds on the art pieces of nearly two dozen artists, and explores the work of those who depict not just one discipline, but build on specific disciplines in their creative method, focus and way of thinking. These artists analyse the relationship between art and science, and their work is also often guided by a scientific approach. The engineering, constructive and designing attitude becomes the centre of the exhibition by works of Andreas Fogarasi, György Gáspár, Judit Horváth Lóczi, Tamás Jovanovics, Tamás Konok and Márton Nemes, while an algorithmic concept and computer culture appears with objects by Imre Bak, Judit Horváth Lóczi and Zsuzsanna Kóródi; at the same time, the exhibition also pays tribute to Vera Molnár. Language as a science is explored by Attila Csáji, Krisztián Frey, Kamill Major and Judit Reigl, while the paths of natural sciences, including creative methods involving nature and nature-based philosophies, are unravelled through the works of Simon Hantai, Ferenc Lantos, Tamás Melkovics and Judit Reigl. Some branches of physics, including optics or gravitation as an influence on art, can also be analysed separately through the objects of József Bullás, Zsuzsanna Kóródi, Judit Reigl and Anthony Vasquez. Climatology and the preservation of scientific and cultural heritage are the issues raised by the glasshouse-like space that closes the exhibition, which presents the works of Nikolett Balázs and Dia Pintér. In addition, with a special installation, the exhibition also highlights some artists – János Fajó, Ferenc Lantos, András Mengyán and Ádám Szentpétery – who invite/have invited several disciplines into their art. Instead of a narrow interpretation of fine art, the keywords of the exhibition are the ones characteristic of contemporary thinking: interdisciplinarity, interoperability and social activism.
Curator: Flóra Mészáros
Exhibited artists: Imre Bak, Nikolett Balázs, József Bullás, Attila Csáji, János Fajó, Andreas Fogarasi, Krisztián Frey, György Gáspár, Simon Hantai, Judit Horváth Lóczi, Tamás Jovanovics, Tamás Konok, Zsuzsanna Kóródi, Ferenc Lantos, Kamill Major, Tamás Melkovics, András Mengyán, Márton Nemes, Dia Pintér, Judit Reigl, Ádám Szentpétery, Anthony Vasquez
Date: January 25 – May 11, 2025
Venue: YBL6 Art Space – Castle Garden Bazaar
