BETWEEN OUR SELVES
Excerpts from László László Révész's Work in Art Education
BETWEEN OUR SELVES
Excerpts from László László Révész's Work in Art Education
Time: 08.10. 2022 - 17.12.2022
Location: Hungarian University of Fine Art
One of the accompanying events of the final EU4ART programme was the exhibition BETWEEN OUR SELVES Excerpts from László László Révész's Work in Art Education at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts.
László László Révész was a professor at the university until his death in 2021, and his open-minded, free-thinking pedagogical programme made him a leading figure of the university.
László László Révész was a painter, performer, filmmaker, set designer, screenwriter, lecturer at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts from 2009 to 2021, head of the Painting Department, associate professor and a DLA (Doctor of Liberal Arts) thesis supervisor (and the list could go on) – until his unexpected death last year. In March 2021, both the wider Hungarian press and the professional platforms were unanimous in speaking about the need for an in-depth analysis of various aspects of his career, which was a unique, transdisciplinary venture, international in its scope, but at the same time – despite Révész's continuous exhibition practice – not as thoroughly researched as is should be.
The motivation for the exhibition is, on the one hand, a gesture of homage and, on the other, to make visible a fragment of his oeuvre (his teaching activities). We were curious to find out what creative strategies and attitudes the former art students inherited from the educational environment of László László Révész's open, transmedial, performative vision, over the course of a decade, and whether there were any clearly defined, media-related or thematic preferences among his students, and finally, if these influences can still be detected in the works of the emerging or already established artists.
On the one hand, the exhibition aims to provide an insight into Révész's methods in relation to educational situations: concerning the (not at all) self-evident importance of the professional bond and trusting relationship between teacher and student (Between Ourselves), the ability to transform one's point of view or the interdependency of artworks and Thai cooking. On the other hand, the curatorial team intends to present the theme not only on the basis of the highlights of the oeuvre and Révész's notes and commentaries on education, but also to utilise the framework of the exhibition as a collaborative work, an artistic investigation.
Following the chamber exhibition organized in February 2022 at 2B Gallery (Reality of the distance), where the students – who were left without a master and a supervisor – reacted to the professional and human void left by Révész following his death, this present exhibition goes further, building on the invitation of practising artists (ex-Révész students) who had already left the educational sphere of the university. The system of the exhibition is partly determined by the content of the interviews with former Révész students, who, through a collective experience, outline their creative attitudes, the types of
tasks they performed, or the place of humour in their creative work. This greater immersion provides an opportunity to make visible the common denominators between class communities that overlap in five-year cycles (for example, their connection
to film, video and institutional socialisation in relation to the perception of art and the role of the artist), and to examine the master-student educational structure in the light of a specific creative practice.
Graphic design of the exhibition:
VISNYAI Zoltán
The exhibition is supported by the National Cultural Fund (NKA) and the EU4ART project, and is realised within the framework of the HUFA's annual exhibition programme.
Exhibitors:
CZENE Márta, DORSÁNSZKI Adrienn, FRENYÓ Júlia, FUDELLA Annabella, GÓTH Martin, HORVÁTH Judit, HORVÁTH Marcell Márk, JORDÁN Lili, KÁDÁR Emese, KENESEI Zsófia, KORTMANN Katalin , KICSINY Martha, KOZMA Lilla, KUDELA Gréta, LACZKÓ Dániel, LAJKÓ Nóra, LAKATOS GELLÉRI Barnabás, LOVÁSZ Luca, Volkan MENGI, MÉZES Márton, Enkhtaivan OCHIRBAT, RAFAEL Erik Benjámin, RÉVÉSZ László László, ROFRICS Richard, ROMHÁNY
Veronika, SOMHEGYI Enikő Orsolya, SZABÓ Nóra, SZANISZLÓ Anna, SZÉCSÉNYI-SZEMERÉDY Judit, SZÉLL Ádám, TAKÁCS Ádám, TRAPP Dominika, VARGA Andrea, VARGA Szabolcs Lajos, ZALAVÁRI András, ZÉKÁNY Dia
Curators:
CZENE Márta, DORSÁNSZKI Adrienn, SALAMON Júlia, SZABÓ Attila