Imre Bukta (b. 1952 in Mezőszemere, Hungary,) has been an active figure in contemporary Hungarian art since the 70s. He showed jointly in 1988 at the Hungarian Pavilion of the 43rd Venice Biennale with Sándor Pinczehelyi and Géza Samu. His work is characterized by an ironic but respectful close relationship with nature and the Hungarian village, expressed through the help of objects typical of a sociocultural community reacting to changes in the structure of society. His paintings and graphic work have always been accompanied by installations and performances. The hidden personal reference in the work is a recollection of his father, whose zither made by his own hands sits on an stool, serving as both a personal memorial and the physical relic of an earlier civilization. Next to the disabled instrument is a caption made from it strings and pegs: Give me a bite!, a reference to the capture in war of his father, then 22, as well as a playful turn of phrase from popular culture. The realistic sausage, cut from a Jerrycan, is a symbol of the economy of scarcity typical of eastern Europe, and simultaneously a gesture of environmental recycling.
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New Acquisitions – Rarely Seen Works 13. March, 2009 – 14. June
The Ludwig Museum possesses a relatively small yet internationally significant collection of over 400 contemporary artworks. As the museum’s permanent exhibition is only able to show a small portion of the collection, we make an effort to present a fresh selection from time to time.