László Lakner, Seamstresses Listen to Hitler’s Speech, 1960 Oil on canvas, 70 × 100,5 cm Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest (collection: Roberto Tosi)
László Lakner (b. 1936, Budapest. Lives and works in Berlin since 1974) is one of the most important artists and actors of the Hungarian Neo-Avant-Garde. He participated in the legendary Iparterv exhibitions, a milestone in Hungarian art history (1968, 1969) as well as appearing in the Venice Biennale (1972, 1976, 1990), and the Kassel Documenta (1977).
His extensive oeuvre ranges from magical realism to hyperrealism, from abstract painting to a conceptual approachand this retrospective exhibition takes the medium of paintingas a starting point for exploring all dimensions of Lakner’s creative practice, especially conceptual art, the artist book, and film.
Alongside his provocative painting Seamstresses Listening to Hitler's Speech (1960), capturing the life of people in a totalitarian society and the mechanisms of power used by dictatorships: mass psychosis, manipulation, propaganda, and the terrifying atmosphere of unclear danger, the exhibition articulates major themes in his work such as history, philosophy, poetry, political regimes, social habitus, but also explores the art world’s own tendencies and turns, including media and genre transformations.
