THE BOX-WORLD exhibition EXTENDED

April 1, 2025 – September 13, 2025

BOX - WORLD

Exhibition of contemporary box works from the collection of the First Hungarian Visual Cabinet (Első Magyar Látványtár)

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Katalin Albert, Miklós Ganczaugh, György Makky, Krisztina Nagy, László Pátyerkó, Péter Prutkay, György Szemadám, László T. Szabó, Péter Újházi, Sándor Zoltán

THE EXHIBITION WAS ORGANIZED BY: Ákos Vörösváry, art collector, artistic director of the First Hungarian Visual Cabinet.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

BOX / ART

Cube- or cuboid-shaped objects, with one side serving as a door that can be opened and closed. Their distinctiveness lies in the dual nature of concealment and revelation, though they are also capable of burying their contents once and for all. (…) The notion of “locking away” or “sealing” implies value, something precious that is necessary and advisable to keep hidden. This, in turn, evokes curiosity, a desire to peek inside, prompting either opening or spying—a wish to somehow access the inner contents.

The entire structure—the framework, the system, the box itself—exists solely to house and frame a certain essential interior element that is visible through glass. (…) The act of collecting, enclosing, and protecting things or valuables in a “safe place” alludes to ancient instincts, to universal human qualities rooted in self-protection and the pursuit of safety. (…) The artist’s worldview or aspects thereof are expressed symbolically in the box artwork. Similarly, the interior of the box may model the inner world of its creator. The dichotomy of closing-opening and hiding-revealing expresses the relationship between personality and society, the ambivalence of the artist’s solitude and self-exposure.

Box-like artworks are classified under object or assemblage art.

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A significant portion of contemporary box art is best approached from the angle of space as a universal artistic problem. (…) In contemporary art, the box is undeniably a vehicle for personal messages, an absolutely individual space. Its creation requires nothing more than a visual artist with the appropriate sensitivity—one who combines the best qualities of a sculptor, painter, graphic artist, theatre director, and dramaturge, all in service of the concept and theme. This is how everything finds its rightful place at the highest artistic standard—within the composition, and ultimately, within the box. From this point on, the box-space becomes a hermetically sealed world, elevated by its isolation. (…)

The first artist to be recognized in art history as a par excellence creator of box art was Joseph Cornell [1903–1972], whose works can briefly be described as poetic metaphors of memory. Another significant artist who developed a specific form of box art was Louise Nevelson [1899–1988], who constructed cabinet-like, relief-like structures filled with drawer handles, chair and table legs, balusters, metal fragments, and wooden blocks arranged in compartments.

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Prominent representatives of Hungarian box art include: Endre Bálint, Júlia Szilágyi, Albert Kováts, Péter Ujházi, Róbert Swierkiewicz, El Kazovszkij, Péter Prutkay, György Szemadám, Sándor Zoltán, and Zoltán Szultán Bogdándy.

Cover Artwork by Péter Prutkay