Valós látomások | Benkő Imre a szubjektív dokumentarista
The presentation of Imre Benkő's photographic oeuvre spanning six decades is the first highlight of the Kunsthalle 2024 programme. Spanning twenty countries on three continents, the material, which spans space and time, shows the diversity of human conditions from the 1970s to the present day. The exhibition selects from the full range of his oeuvre, from his award-winning 1975 World Press Photo to his iconic series of photographs taken in Ózd, Budapest and abroad, to his travels in China in 2019.
Schedule
Benkő's photographic interest - whether the city or the countryside is the backdrop - focuses primarily on human relationships. His images are also cordial documents, reflecting or revealing the dominant lifestyles, cultural habits and attitudes of the time, both in the East and the West. The photographs speak a language of their own: the sensitivity of the humanist photographic tradition of social portraiture, combined with Benkő's individual vision, results in images that are memorable. In a group of works, the illusion of the socialist past and the years of transition are juxtaposed with the random, enigmatic moments of everyday life or even holidays. His long-lasting photo essays, such as the stages of the dismantling of the Ózd steelworks, the unbridled, ritualised concert moments of the Sziget festival, or his series of twin pairs, provide a richly detailed register of processes unfolding over time.
Kunsthalle Budapest
The largest exhibition hall in Budapest, in Heroes Square, just the opposite the Museum of Fine Arts.
