-Katalin Hetey-
Curated by Gábor Rieder
Opening speech by József Mélyi, art historian
Art+Text Budapest is delighted to present Katalin Hetey’s exhibition Memory of Movement. The exhibition, showcasing early paintings created in Paris and in Switzerland during the 1960s and 1970s, is Hetey’s first solo show in the gallery that follows the noir et blanc exhibition of 2017 where a selection of her works were displayed alongside those of Tamás Konok.
Katalin Hetey (1924-2010) studied at the Budapest College of Fine Arts, in the same year group as artists Simon Hantaï, Judit Reigl, and Vera Molnar, all of whom subsequently entered the Parisian art scene, just like Hetey did. Hetey left Hungary in 1956 and, following a short but inspirational stay in Italy where she met key figures of Arte Povera, such as Afro, Alberto Burri and Marino Marini, she ended up in Paris. Hetey’s artistic vocabulary matured in the proximity of the École de Paris, French Informel, and Art Brut. The basis of her artistic programme is the half-conscious, half-instinctive abstraction of motives taken from architectural heritage and forms found in the natural and the industrial environment. Hetey’s art builds upon the synthesis of organic and geometric thinking, simultaneously drawing from the subconscious realm of écriture automatique and the domains of scientific analysis. Her painterly universe unravels itself through multiple threads inspired by Informel, Art Brut, Arte Povera, as well as Surrealism and Minimalism.
