Lóska Lajos szerk.: Művészettörténeti tanulmányok Pest megyéből (Studia Comitatensia 20. Szentendre, 1990)

Szentendre képzőművészete 1945–1985 - Lóska Lajos: Művészet az átmeneti korban. Festészet, grafika 1968–1988

Lajos Lóska: SZENTENDRE ART IN THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION PAINTING AND GRAPHIC ART - 19681988 The specific character of Szentendre art before 1945 and in the first two decades following the war was defined by two main trends; Constructivism and Surrealism. Since the end of the 1960s two new generations have started their careers being influenced by contemporary trends like Pop Art, Minimal Art, Hyperrealism, New Sensibility and even Neogeo. At the time official art policy supported a kind of tired Post-Impressionism with Socialist Realistic tones, though he establishment did not dare to silence prominent masters who chose different ways like Barcsay, Kmetty or Czóbel. Komiss was less fortunate and for years barred from exhibiting. A landmark in art history was the jubilatory show of the Old Artists' Colony in 1968 where Constructive Lyrical Surrealists were given a special emphasis and two young Constructivists: Pál Deim and László Balogh were introduced. Szentendre Art 1976 in the National Gallery enumerated pieces painted between 1970 and 1975 stressing the versatility of styles and trends marked by the appearance of Pop Art, Hyperrealism and Arte Povera (Kocsis, Klimó). A new generation sprang up in the mid-70s with the appearance of the amateurs of the Lajos Vajda Studio. Their presence became decisive in the mid-80s. In the 1987 Szentendre Show they left the exhibition hall and arranged their own counter-exhibition. Their most remarkable collective endeavour was m

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m in 1988 in the Ernst Museum. Pál Deim found intellectual inspiration in the silenced modern trends represented by Kassák, Komiss, Gadonyi and Gyarmati. He started with geometrical motifs in subjective colouring which hardened and tended towards more monochromous compositions in the 1970s but were enriched with more poetic tones and a wider range of colors under the inspiration of New Wave later. Another Constructivist is László Balogh though his reductive compositions seem less inventive than those of his master, Barcsay. Flat geometry defines the style of László Hajdu who has recently used a merger of Constructivist and gesture-like elements inspired by Neogeo. Imre Kocsis moved to Szentendre in the early 70s and has departed from the basic Constructivist and Surrealist trends for the sake of the critical approach of Pop Art and Hyperrealism receiving his first recognition for his special, often bizarre graphics. In the early 80s his graphic style included gesture-like elements and manipulated photos. The survival of the Lajos Vajda Studio is even more remarkable as the official art establishment considered any spontaneous amateur group a threat. They set out under the auspices of underground, organized performances and actions, played music and shot experimental films apart from working in the traditional forms of painting, graphic, art and sculpture. András Wahom in one of the most decisive figures though is now connected to the Studio in a looser way. His Surrealistic absurd drawings touched by the spirit of the graffiti react to sociological and moral questions. He has been painting since 1985 with loud colours and graffiti motifs. István ef Zámbó's paintings are characterized by gay colours and bombastic ideas in which he reinterprets commercialized symbols taken from the subculture in a style marked by Pop Art and Surrealism. László fe Lugossy is an especially versatile figure of the founders of the Studio contributing to music, literature and art with a conscious dilettantism. His performances recall the mythical and animalistic world of ancient instincts and the banality of consumer culture. Imre Bukta is a representative of "agricultural art" (his own term). His early graphics bore resemblance to land art pieces but their similarities were merely a framework for him which served the inclusion of country culture in his installations, graphics and objects as well as his manipulated photos. In the 1980s social issues were replaced by more decorative tones. His Bio-Art is closely connected whith the ideas of the Greenpeace movement. János Aknay was strongly influenced by the Constructivist traditions of Szentendre although his representations are more picturesque than those of the representatives of the Hard Edge. In the mid-80s his attention turned towards Székely runic writing in vibrating, restless and colourful backgrounds documenting a Neogeo aspect. Mihály Gubis was one of the founders of the Békéscsaba Workshop where they produced silkscreens of a flat geometrical character. In the mid-80s the line took the lead in his compositions. Sándor Gyó'rffy, although a Budapest resident, has been a member of the Lajos Vajda Studio since 1977. First he experimented with mail art and silkscreens inspired by Tarkowsky and Ortega y Gasset. Recently, after a brief black, greay and white period, he has painted yellowish-greenish-bluish quasi-landscapes and Neogeo compositions. Surrealism and Naive Painting were the sources of inspiration for István Regős who does not refrain from the use of kitsch either. Gábor Magyar's pieces are characterized by a lyrical, non-figurative Surrealism. 163