Peace on Earth: Gyula Várnai's interactive artworks that speak to the political turmoil in Europe

Gyula Várnai is a leading Hungarian contemporary artist, best known for his large-scale installations created out of ordinary objects. His decades long neo-conceptual practice has been highly influential in the Hungarian art scene and his current focus speaks to the political turmoil in Hungary and Europe as a whole, drawing parallels with the situation today in Hungary and its former socialist past.

Through his latest series for the Venice Biennale, Peace on Earth, Várnai draws on the notion of futurology, creating interactive installations that evoke the "promised utopias of the past and confronts them with the challenges of the present". Recreating slogans and symbols of socialism, this commission critiques an idealised, futuristic vision using ordinary materials that "transcend their everyday function".

Curated by Zsolt Petrányi for the Hungarian Pavilion, this exhibition is organised in partnership with the Ludwig Museum and acb gallery, and will be on show until 26 November 2017.

Image credit: Rosta József – Ludwig Museum – Contemporary Art Museum, Budapest

Share

Editor's Picks

Further Reading

Get the best of Creative Boom delivered to your inbox weekly