Tihamér Gyarmathy | Cosmos in the Studio
The Kunsthalle pays tribute to one of the most important figures of Hungarian abstraction, Tihamér Gyarmathy (1915–2005), with an anniversary exhibition. Forty years after the legendary artist’s canonization following his 1986 exhibition at the Kunsthalle, which had long been silenced, the exhibition now undertakes to review and rethink his oeuvre in the changed artistic milieu and historical distance of the present. What makes the exhibition unique is that it brings Gyarmathy's works into visual dialogue with world-famous contemporaries such as Hans Arp, Paul Klee, Max Bill, Joan Miró, and Etienne Beothy.
The exhibition material, arranged in four rooms, takes visitors from his early figurative roots to the cosmic visions of his mature period. The exhibition focuses on Gyarmathy's diverse sources of inspiration: his travels in Western Europe, the European School and the circle of abstract artists, the 1947 international exhibitions in Paris and Hungary, Ernő Kállai's theory of bioromanticism and the hidden forms of the microcosm, photogram experiments inspired by László Moholy-Nagy, and Lajos Kassák and the pure geometry of constructivism.
Schedule
The exhibition spans from the bioromantic approach that forms the basis of Gyarmathy's art to his mature abstract works, which explore the hidden connections of the universe. In these works, Gyarmathy sought to evoke wholeness, touch the universe, search for the meaning of existence, and make the invisible visible. The highlight of the exhibition is the "thought space" revealed in the last room, where the artist's unique syncretic approach—the unification of various religious and philosophical influences—becomes tangible. Here, in addition to paintings drawing on the macrocosm, visitors can also see an installation of the artist's former studio and his unique collection of objects, which can be interpreted as a model of the world, designed by György Szegő, bringing them closer to Gyarmathy's complex inner world.
Gyarmathy's art is a unique combination of organic vitality, geometric order, and spiritual freedom, in which these different perspectives do not exclude but complement each other. His oeuvre may seem foreign and difficult to access to younger generations today. The exhibition at the Kunsthalle aims to bridge this gap, rediscover his oeuvre, and create a contemporary interpretation of it.
Curator: Gréta Garami
Co-curator: Botond Szathmári
Kunsthalle Budapest
The largest exhibition hall in Budapest, in Heroes Square, just the opposite the Museum of Fine Arts.