Altorjay, Gábor: Collages (1966-1967)

Gábor Altorjay (b. 1946 in Budapest) is best known as one of the organizers of the first happening in Hungary (together with Tamás Szentjóby: Lunch. In Memoriam Batu Kán, 1966). He began as a poet in the first half of the 60s, then studied theology, and worked as a tour guide in Poland. Experiences with local artists including Sándor Weöres, Milán Füst, László Végh, and Miklós Erdély – together with his experiences with art in Poland – led him to new, “anti-artistic” genres. When he sought asylum in the West in 1967, he took his collages, on the border between art and literature, to Germany, where a few pieces found a place in the Sohm Collection (today's Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart). The Hungarian public knows these happening-related works through the 15 pieces purchased by the Ludwig Museum. In addition to their unusual genre, they also offer the imprint of the visual culture and Pop thinking of the time.