Founded in 2006, the MODEM Center for Modern and Contemporary Art took an important step in 2023: the art center, which was previously a gallery, entered the museum institutional network, the primary and most important result of which is that its collection is now accessible to the community, a public collection.
How old are you? is the permanent exhibition of the MODEM collection in Debrecen, open until 31 December 2024.
The exhibition is based on the collection of the last 18 years, which is still evolving from the collections and acquisitions of the Debrecen International Artists’ Colony and the donations of artists and was created following a curatorial selection based on the generational research approach and is presented in various artistic media in relation to the professional portfolio of the institution. Drawing on the insights of generational theory, each section is arranged according to the artists’ year of birth, rather than according to the aesthetic, art theoretical or art historical categories they represent or can be associated with their work. The collective exhibition includes works by nearly fifty artists from the so-called lost generation to Z.
In selecting the works on show, the curators have ensured that the exhibition is a worthy representation of MODEM’s 18 years of cultural activity and have chosen artists who have shaped the institution’s image over the years, either through solo exhibitions or as major group exhibitions.
Exhibiting artists:
Lost Generation: Vilmos Aba-Novák
Founders (Builders): Judit Reigl, Vera Molnár
Veterans: Ákos Birkás, Ilona Keserü, László Lakner, István Nádler, Endre Tót, Zoltán Tölg-Molnár,
Baby Boomers: Imre Bukta, Lajos Csontó, Ágnes Eperjesi, László Fehér, László feLugossy, Imre Gábor, Pál Gerber, Balázs Kicsiny, Ilona Lovas, Sándor Pinczehelyi, Gyula Várnai
Generation X: Zsolt Asztalos, Emese Benczúr, Attila Csörgő, Marcell Esterházy, Tibor Gyenis, Tibor Nagy Kriszta x-T, Péter Pettendi Szabó, Sára Richter, Katharina Roters, Société Réaliste, József Szolnoki.
Generation Y: Nikolett Balázs, Kincső Bede, Máté Dobokay, Tim Freiwald, Judit Ágnes Gallai, Judit Lilla Molnár, Márton Nemes, Renata Pintérova, Judit Flóra Schuller, Lilla Váczi.
Generation Z: Dorottya Szonja Koltay
Curator: Szabolcs Süli-Zakar (Generation X)
Co-curator: Gábor Török Krisztián (Generation Z)
Photos by János Miskolczi
