In “Vasarely Go Home” Andreas Fogarasi investigates a double event that took place in Budapest on October 18th, 1969. Opening that day, Victor Vasarely, the internationally renowned artist of Hungarian origin, had a large retrospective exhibition at the Mücsarnok/Kunsthalle in Budapest.

While Hungarian avant-garde art of that time was forbidden or at best tolerated by the authorities, Vasarely’s exhibition – organised by official cultural politics – became an important public event attracting a huge number of visitors. Because of these double standards at play, the show was met with both high expectations and scepticism from the local artistic scene. The second – undocumented – event taking place that evening during the exhibition opening was a one-person protest by artist János Major. He carried a small sign in his pocket that he discreetly showed to friends and acquaintances when he encountered them in the crowd. The sign read “Vasarely Go Home”.

Language: English