György Kemény: Just

Exhibition Opening

In the wonderful, happy years after World War II, in 1947, when I was 11 years old, my father took me to Károlyi Palace, where I saw my first abstract art exhibition. Tamás Lossonczy's painting "Fires and Whirlpools" from that exhibition is still engraved in my memory. At the same time, my father gifted me an article by Kállai Ernő titled "The Hidden Face of Nature," which passionately argued for abstract art amidst the conservative artistic taste of that time. I recently opened this booklet and realized that the 74-year-old Kállai Ernő perfectly understands the paintings of my exhibition titled "Just" at the Három Hét Galéria. Here are some quotes from his article: "The allure of depth stimulates the same spiritual restlessness as modern natural science." "Each atom is composed of the tiny world system of electrons and carries the tremendous tension of latent forces." "From cells to planets and swirling nebulae, the same driving force of life prevails." "In the world of new knowledge revealing the organic unity of body and soul, the soul stands before us as an unconscious, creatively effective force." "Abstract pictorial imagination is guided by intuition, inner insight, premonition, and feeling." I add that back then, there was no Hubble, electron microscope, TV, digitalization, and almost every word still holds true today. Quickly summarizing, I went from being a poster designer, creating pop art images, conceptual photos, neo-expressionist felt-tip portraits to my current exhibition, featuring digitally abstract images born from internal emotions, sometimes with a spring-like, sometimes stormier form. I also note that artists like Henri Matisse, Jenő Barcsay, and Gerhard Richter became outstanding abstract painters in their old age. The die is cast; in the second sense, there is no cube, no geometric shape in my work; biomorphic flow is much more characteristic. About the exhibition title "Just." All 16 titles of my paintings start with "just," all expressing ideas I agree with, affirming that life is worth living, and connecting spiritually to the images themselves. I am grateful to Három Hét Galéria and Andrea Bódis for inviting me to exhibit my latest works and allowing me to show where I am at the moment and who I am now. George Kemény

On view: 4 November - 25 November, 2021.