In “Specters and Experiments”, the newly opened Attila Szűcs retrospective now on view at Budapest’s Ludwig Museum, we can admire select works from the Hungarian painter’s ethereal oeuvre dating back over two decades. The often-ghostly characters portrayed in Szűcs’s paintings range from anonymous children discovering reflections (or perhaps selves from another dimension?) in flowing water, to the unknowable first moments of the Big Bang, to Adolf Hitler exhibiting a moment of tenderness as he pets his dog – except on the canvas, the dog is not there. Such mysterious visual paradoxes as these are common in Szűcs’s works, providing a thought-provoking experience for viewers that only grows more intriguing the longer we look at each individual image.
Melding abstract backgrounds with photorealistic portraits, often from worlds that would never encounter each other in any universe that we are aware of, Szűcs brings together disparate and disembodied visions that introduce phantoms of history to postmodern concepts, often enhanced by surreal spots of color and special painting techniques that blur boundaries in multiple respects.
While “Specters and Experiments” highlights Szűcs’s more recent canvases, the exhibit takes viewers back in time to display areas that showcase the painter’s earlier works, providing a fascinating overview of this prominent Hungarian artist’s growth as his influences span political turmoil, personal memories, and our ever-changing media – various works by Szűcs pay homage to such diverse cultural wonders as the silent movies of Buster Keaton and the recent internet fad of “planking”.
When such surreal works are viewed altogether, exhibition guests may feel amazed, disoriented, or enchanted, but they will certainly not be bored. “Specters and Experiments – The Painting of Attila Szűcs” is the artist’s first solo exhibit at the Ludwig Museum, and will be on view through February 19th.
