The opening of the exhibition Bodies and Memories – Figurative Selection from the Antal–Lusztig Collection will take place on October 31 at 5:00 p.m. at MODEM. All are warmly invited to attend and explore this compelling presentation of post-war Hungarian figurative art. The opening program is free to attend for everyone!

The Antal-Lusztig Collection of Debrecen is the biggest private art collection in Hungary, with nearly 5000 artworks.

About the upcoming exhibition: Figurative art is not merely the depiction of the human body—it reflects the imprint of human experience. MODEM’s new exhibition, Bodies and Memories, presents post-war Hungarian figurative art through a curated selection from the Antal–Lusztig Collection. Rather than offering a historical overview, the exhibition invites a contemporary reinterpretation, highlighting the collection’s human-centered and sensitive perspective.

One of the exhibition’s starting points is the relationship between Péter Antal and Lili Ország, which shaped both the beginning and direction of the collection. As a young collector in the late 1960s, Antal was the first to visit Ország’s studio and purchase a work from her. In doing so, he chose not just a painting but a worldview—one that embraces the image as a remembering body. This gesture continues to define the collection’s approach to figurative art.

The exhibition is structured around four interwoven concepts: figure, role, memory, and myth. These motifs do not separate but connect—body and spirit, past and present, seeing and remembering.

Bodies and Memories draws attention to the constant movement and rebirth of figurative art. The layered interplay of figure, role, memory, and myth reveals that figurativity is not a closed chapter but a living, continuously reinterpreted way of seeing.

The first part of the exhibition opens on October 30 at the MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts in Debrecen, while the second part will be presented on November 13 at the Collegium Hungaricum in Berlin.

Date: opens on October 30
Location: Modem Art Center

Source:facebook.com/antallusztigcollection, FB events | Photo credit:Photo credit:Debrecen Városa Facebook