The image of the picture

While abstract painting had nearly a century available to perfect its own visual language, figurative painting was merely able to transcend its own traditions in the last third of the 20th Century. From this perspective Hungarian art suffered an even greater disadvantage compared to global art, since the framework of socialist Realism made it even more difficult to apply a fresh and up-to-date interpretation of classic figurative painting. However, as a matter of fact the style that is rooted in academicism and realism gave an impetus to Hungarian figurative painting, but in a contra-selective way. For example, the “double vision” of socialist Realism served as an ontological basis for Tibor Csernus’s sur-naturalism. The painter later inspired the IPARTERV generation: Lakner, Siskov and Konkoly, whose art, by this time, can be considered less existentialists but rather self-reflexive or pop-art. This inherited tradition, and the impact of pop-art, conceptualism and image types of the new digital media gave space and impetus to the latest figurative aspirations. The creations of the new wave do not have a unified approach: various forms of self-reflections are mixed with individual styles, which creates the formation of diverse phenomena from magical realism to technorealism.

20th Century modern art transformed the observer into a scholar, but at least an insider. These pieces of art that are abstracted from the world’s direct phenomenon can only be indirectly explored by the observer. Therefore, it is no coincidence that with the decay of modernism new figurative painting – both its traditions, its aesthetics and its practice – gained so much importance in contemporary art. The indirect nature of abstraction is now replaced by the primary impact mechanism of sensual-retinal experience. Although undoubtedly, figurative images (at the level of style and references) are also forced to reflect, the joy over lifelike, detail-rich pictures enhances the enjoyment of a work of artwork. This trend definitely relates to traditional painting at least from this aspect, and furthermore, in contrast to photo and video, this medium also exploits the potential of its materiality. These paintings are characterised by their focus on material, style and topic, elaborating on the primary and secondary level of today’s image dumping. They focus on memories and desires, references and quotes that surround us and bomb us every second through television, our monitors, magazines, thus unconsciously condition our imagination, expectations and desires.