The Műcsarnok pays tribute to József Árendás, one of the seminal figures of contemporary Hungarian cultural poster art. The exhibition marks the artist’s 80th birthday, providing an excellent opportunity to take stock of this rich oeuvre, while drawing attention to the distinctive values of the cultural poster as a genre.
Drawings and Posters draws on the theory of the ‘condensed retrospective’: it does not seek to present the work of the artist in minute detail but rather reveals his creative DNA, focusing on his stylistic development and key themes. The selection on view condenses the defining periods of Árendás’s career into a single arc of visual and conceptual intensity. The exhibited works are grouped around three principal strands: the nostalgic film posters of the 1970s, the dramatic theatre posters produced from 1983 onwards, and the autonomous, auteur posters of recent decades, centred on a purely artistic message.
The exhibition focuses on the core qualities of the oeuvre such as intellectual humour, wry irony, bold visual metaphors, masterful atmosphere-building and witty associations. Special attention is devoted to exceptional draughtsmanship, a skill that has become increasingly rare in contemporary graphic design, as well as to the artist’s integration of traditional and digital techniques, which is why drawings feature alongside posters throughout the exhibition. Visitors will gain an insight not only into the artist’s body of work but also into the story of the poster as a medium; by incorporating traditional street advertising columns into the exhibition space, the installation evokes the posters’ original setting and means of display.
The work of József Árendás serves as an excellent example of how, despite the increasingly automated nature of the digital age, profound thought, wit and the highest standards of graphic craftsmanship can elevate the poster to the level of autonomous art. This exhibition not only documents the key stages of the artist’s career but also celebrates the transient yet enduring values of the cultural poster.
Gréta Garami, the exhibition’s curator