TAT Contemporary Art Gallery
"Un giorno le sculture fluttuerano sopra la terra, come i pianeti del sistema solare; e queste sculture saranno i monumenti di una nuova concezione della natura, nonché di una nuova specie umana."
Judit Kemény
The events of the night of the Judit Kemény Exhibition at the Hungarian Academy in Rome – such as the preceding conference and the closing concert of Hungarian Band Csík – as well as the opening itself have been a huge success. Here, you can see a photo selection of the program.
Collaborating partner of the exhibition is the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Contemporary Institute of the Italian National Gallery).
In the framework of the Hungarian-Italian Cultural Season from 12th September 2013 at the Hungarian Academy in Rome, the professional, as well as the wide public, gets the chance to get know the oeuvre of artist Judit Kemény (1918-2009). The specialty and significance of this exhibition lies in the fact that despite the ideological and artistic isolation, her achievement is autonomous and fits well into the international artistic scene. What stood in the focus of her art was the matter of freedom. She believed from 1948 on that as an artist and as an intellectual she has responsibilities towards society and so her sculptural and graphical work represents this commitment. Democratic and moral belief just like hers led to the Hungarian revolution in 1956 and also to the end of communism in 1989. Judit Kemény’s art and mentality is exemplary, it represents excellently faith in independence, the power of creativity and the gravity of taking responsibility individually.
A part of her oeuvre organically fits into the modern Italian and international sculptural experimentations of the 1960’s. Iván Dévényi, art historian related Judit Kemény’s plastic art to those of contemporary Italian avantgarde sculptors, such as Luciano Minguzzi, Carmelo Cappello and Nino Franchina, and what is more, Zoltán Borbereki Kovács, fellow artist and friend, who later emigrated to South Africa, also made several attempts to draw the attention of the Italian public to the oeuvre of Judit Kemény. For me, what is exceptionally honouring is the extent of attention with which the director of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli and her colleagues took part in organizing the exhibition. Thanks to this institution, sculptures by Luciano Minguzzi, Carmelo Cappello and Nino Franchina are also on display, enhancing the international context of these oeuvres.
Antal Molnár
Director of the Hungarian Academy in Rome
/Translated by Anna Völgyi/