The Notion of Universality in László Moholy-Nagy’s work

About this Event

For celebrating the 125th anniversary of Laszlo Mohoy-Nagy, a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school, Ambassador István Pásztor Consul General of Hungary; Balassi Institute in New York; Tamás Novák, PhD Scientific & Technology Attaché; and Dorottya Nagy-Szakal, MD PhD, the President of the New York Hungarian Scientific Society invites you an event hosted by NYHSS and Balassi Institute. 

Program

6:30-7:00 – reception

7:00-8:30 – presentation and discussion

Our distinguished speaker

Alexandra Karakas, Eötvös Loránd University; PhD School in Philosophy

The Notion of Universality in László Moholy-Nagy’s work

Synopsis: There are thousands of publications about the work of László Moholy-Nagy in many different languages. He had numerous solo and group shows, right now there is one in Canada, in Chicago, Germany, Turkey, and in Italy as well. He is one of the most recognized Hungarian-born artists, and his oeuvre nowadays is more relevant than ever. Although, several questions arise: What can be still said about Moholy-Nagy 74 years after his death, and after a vast amount of publications? What was his secret? How is it possible that he is still relevant and that his works still fit the contemporary issues in fine art and design? How did he manage to be successful in almost every genre of both fine art and design? In my talk I examine Moholy-Nagy’s work on an abstract level. Through the four major categories of fine art, design, theoretical work, and institutional efforts, I examine what I call a bricolage approach to his work. By bricolage, I refer to an attitude to use, reformulate, and redesign already existing materials, ideas, concepts, and thoughts to create something new. Moholy-Nagy consciously experimented with different categories in his professional practice, as he was active in photography, painting, graphic design, industrial design, theatre design, film-making and writing as well. In all his work, he was continually looking for new methods as well as new combinations of already existing things (i.e. artworks) in order to create something new. In my talk I examine this bricolage phenomeon through one instance from each of the four major categories, fine art, design, theoretical works, and institutional efforts.