Hommage - ideál vagy minta?

Ákos Birkás (HU) in collab. mit György Jovánovics (HU)
Noah Fischer (NY)
Tamás Kaszás (HU)
Genti Korini (ALB)
Olivia Mihaltianu (RO)
Csaba Nemes (HU)
Klára Rudas (HU)
Mózes Márton Muranyi (HU)

Nowadays, the phenomenon of homage sounds so strange in the context of contemporary art that we almost cannot believe our ears upon hearing it. It reminds us of the older, authoritarian and hierarchical aspects of art: open obeisance and deference to the greatness of the artist, the father-figure. Essentially, the driving force behind this construction is the heroic stance, according to which art must respond to ideals. 

Working together with artists in this project for the Knoll gallery, we seek answers to the questions of how the old, authoritarian concept of homage can be rethought today and whether there can be a non-hierarchical form of homage. Does this attitude exist specifically within a certain generation and how and in which form may older artists’ homage towards younger generations be interpreted?
At the same time, in view of the existing “patterns”, we might also ask how the Eastern European artist can query another hierarchical relationship, that of centre and periphery, in relation to the Western World. In brief, the question is: What new forms of homage could be inspirational for artists today? 

Taking this one step further, Diedrich Diederichsen’s suggestion leads us to the question of whether art today is governed by ideals. In other words, does art bear ideals in mind or does it follow patterns of behaviour or career strategies? 

With the exception of one artist from new York, the artists participating in the exhibition were invited primarily from Hungary and the Eastern European region, since this is the region I know best. I have chosen artists from different generations and from different backgrounds in terms of their artistic socialization. The artists will not exhibit completed works here, but rather the results of their discourse reflecting on the questions raised above. Edit Sasvári