Bodies and memories – Figurative artworks from the Antal-Lusztig Collection
2025. Oct. 30. - 2026. Feb. 15.
Figurative art reflects not only the representation of the body but also the imprint of human experience. MODEM’s new exhibition, Bodies and Memories, presents post-war Hungarian figurative art through a selection from the Antal–Lusztig Collection. Rather than a historical overview, the exhibition offers a contemporary reinterpretation – an exploration of the collection’s human-centered and deeply sensitive perspective.
One of the exhibition’s starting points is the relationship between Péter Antal and Lili Ország, which also marked the beginning and direction of the collection. As a young collector in the late 1960s, Antal was among the first to visit Ország’s studio and to acquire work directly from her. In doing so, he did not merely choose a painting but embraced an attitude – a personal connection to the image as a remembering body. This gesture continues to define the collection’s relationship to figurative art.
The exhibition unfolds along four interwoven concepts: figure, role, memory, and myth. These motifs do not separate but connect – body and spirit, past and present, seeing and remembering.
Bodies and Memories draws attention to the constant motion and ever-renewing forms of figurative art. The intertwining layers of figure, role, memory, and myth reveal that figuration is not a closed chapter of art history but a living, continuously reinterpreted mode of vision.
The first part of the exhibition opens on October 30 at MODEM – Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art in Debrecen, while the second part of the selection will be presented on November 13 at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin.
Curator:
Krisztián Gábor Török
Artists:
Margit Anna, Endre Bálint, András Bozsó, András Böröcz, Imre Bukta, Tibor Csernus, Lajos Csontó, El Kazovszkij, Ágnes Eperjesi, László feLugossy, Noémi Ferenczy, József Gaál, Péter Gémes, Katalin Káldi, Balázs Kicsiny, Béla Kondor, Gyula Konkoly, Dezső Korniss, László Lakner, Viktor Lois, László Méhes, György Gábor Nagy, Hajnal Németh, István Nyári, Lili Ország, Gyula Pauer, György Román, Géza Samu, Erzsébet Schaár, Ákos Szabó, Dezső Szabó, József Szurcsik, Attila Szűcs, Menyhért Tóth, Péter Ujházi, Tibor Vilt, András Wahorn and Zuzu-Vető (Lóránt Méhes, János Vető).