L. Kovásznai Viktória: Modern magyar éremművészet 2. 1976–2000 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2004/4)

and less passionate, the tone of the medals inspired by the immediate environment are more objective. The almost purely abstract forms are grouped by an ordering force {Dialogue, 1981). The surface of both artists' medals adjusts to tradition with their careful finish. The other, very characteristic, range of the period reaching the farthest point away from traditional medals is the constructivist, new geometrical trend based on mechanical elaboration. What pushed them into the focus of attention was their resolute step to leave behind the traditional interpretation of the medal with new materials and contents, stretching the boundaries of medallic art more vehemently than ever before. The protagonist of this current was Tibor Csiky, whose name hallmarks the whole current. After larger sculptural compositions, his works in the category of the medal appeared in exhibitions and art colony showings from the second half of the 1970s (The Movement of Matter, 1977; Time, 1980). Parallel with him, Zoltán Bobus (Dissolvable Joining, 1977) and Mária Lugossy (Microscopic Section, series, 1976) also debuted with medals. The artists abandoned bronze and replaced it with steel, chromium steel, copper, plexi, glass, etc. To work with the new materials also required relevant techniques like turning, corroding, etc. One of their aims was to show up the properties of the material and the beauty of the surface, coupled with the principle of systematic constructivity. Their consistent search for form resulted in a system of simplified geometrical figures, which was the basis for the perfect harmony of the unity of form and content. Their approach and views of the materials largely determined their themes: the questions of plasticity, structural problems as well as the question transformation within the materials. Nearly all of them were also intrigued by the correlation between two- and three-dimensionality, by the layers of space, the laws of motion in space. In the early '80s, Csiky's pupils also appeared in various exhibitions: first Ferenc Friedrich, Tibor Budahelyi and Sándor Csepregi, then in the second half of the decade István Ézsiás. They also analyzed the structural process within the materials (Friedrich: Structural Transformation, series, 1983), the questions of space (Csepregi: Internal Forms, 1984; Ézsiás: Walter Gropius, 1987), etc. Though Lugossy's early works represent the constructive, neo-geometrical style and Budahelyi's work is also based on that trend, their w

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ork can only partly be tied to this range. While Csiky and the artists of a similar turn of mind were consistently absorbed in questions of plasticity and their works are free of emotions, Lugossy's works mediate emotions. The reserved tension hidden in the forms, the rigid harmony of polished surfaces convey the message of our increasingly impersonal world. In other medals, despite the intricate spatial structures, an attraction to organic forms and surfaces is manifest (Organic Structures, series, 1979). In the next years, Lugossy abandoned the cold lustre of the metal to experiment with closed organic spatial structures, the potentialities of interior space with the help of mercury and other minerals enclosed in glass. Budahelyi's start was somewhat different, with his attempts to give plastic form to musical sound as the conveyor of the human quality (First Sound. 1983: Controlled Sound, 1984). His method was based on a strict plastic order, formal abstraction, construction from basic geometrical elements he had learnt from his master, as well as on the idea that the basic element of sound may be a bored hole and corroded groove. The medals can produce real sound while they visualize the movement in the matter, the waves of the sound. Lie also took an interest in the unfolding of inner spaces and the examination of their structure but somewhat later. The fact that Lugossy soon moved towards the use of organic materials and Budahelyi meant to produce musical sound with his medals indicate the limitations of the constructive, new geometrical trend. Though having utilized all the potentialities of the method, they could not identify with emotionless expression, with the suppression of the social message. Other artists also tried to extend the variety of themes by formulating socially valid ideas while observing the basic principles of form (Csepregi: The Community I—II, 1987), which have left an imprint on medallic art so that even today some artists resort to them (e.g. Ézsiás: MADIMedal II, 2001). Csiky must also have realized the need to step forward as in one of his last works (Otto Frei, 1988) the contradiction between the lustrous surface of polished bronze and the sharp forms of the metal no longer harmonizes with the constructivist approach. However, his untimely death prevented him from going further along this line. The views of Csiky and his circle remained isolated, influencing medallic art indirectly, yet it is to their credit that a freer interpretation of this branch of art and the expansion of its boundaries could emerge. Though producing widely different works, József Palotás, Ádám Farkas and to some extent György Holdas can be grouped together on account of their identical conception of the medal. What their views and medals have in common is the direction which they envision for medallic art to take when interpreted more liberally. Farkas worked in bronze. Palotás often in cast iron and Holdas in marble, yet in this phase of their activity all three tried to extend the possibilities of expression apart from its concentration by incorporating colour effects in the compositions, preserving at the same time the traditional form, artistic impact