EXHIBITION: THE THEATRE OF PAINTERS. ANDRAS BOROCZ AND LASZLO LASZLO REVESZ PERFORMANCES fROM THE 1980’S

The performances of András Böröcz and László László Révész in the 1980s were among the defining, legendary events of the era. The artist duo, who originally studied painting – which is why their contemporaries referred to the events as “the theatre of painters” – developed a language full of irony, humour and playfulness, which uniquely combined performance with theatre and painting.

András Böröcz (1956) and László László Révész (1957–2021) met during the admissions process at the College of Fine Arts; they were also members of the INDIGO (INterDIsciplináris GOndolkodás/interdisciplinary thinking)) group led by Miklós Erdély, which encouraged experimentation. Largely in parallel with their INDIGO years, between 1977 and 1990 they created their joint performances, which frequently drew on art-historical and literary references (from Shakespeare to Goethe) and mythological allusions (from centaurs to the fall of Icarus), and included classical music interludes (from Mozart to Mussorgsky) and alternative rock songs (such as pieces composed for the occasion by Eszperantó Eszpresszó), readings of theoretical texts and ballet performances, film and slide projections, all while maintaining multiple connections to the creators’ visual art practice. In terms of art historical precedents, we can refer to the experimental language of Dadaist theatre, the Surrealists’ associations of images and motifs, and the Hungarian neo-avant-garde, primarily Miklós Erdély and his INDIGO group’s conception of art. Böröcz and Révész developed an idiosyncratic set of motifs for their performances: they created increasingly complex constellations from simple, almost banal objects and forms. These included spheres, watermelons, watermelon samples, vinyl records, eggs (sunny side up), coffins, chimneys, wells, cigars, lipstick, candles and matches. International interest in Böröcz and Révész’s performances grew over the years. In 1984 they toured North America, in 1986 Germany and North America again, and in 1987 they appeared at documenta 7 in Kassel.

The exhibition provides an overview of Böröcz and Révész’s performances through documents and related artworks: it presents the collage-technique pages of the portfolio the two artists created between 1977 and 1986, accompanied by documentary photographs by György Makky, as well as a selection of works on paper by András Böröcz and László László Révész, and sculptures by Böröcz, that feature or revisit motifs from the performances. The exhibition also includes a site-specific installation by András Böröcz that reflects on the sets and props, as well as video recordings (by Nina Czeglédy and others), several of which were never exhibited before.

Exhibition curator: Dávid Fehér; assistant curator: Zsófia Kergyó.