An eclectic attempt to complete the torso in my head + Omara
An eclectic attempt to complete the torso in my head + Omara (Mara Oláh)
UGM Studio, Trg Leona Štuklja 2
29 July – 27 August 2022
Artists: Lajos Barta, János Brückner, József Csató, Árpád Forgó, Robert Gabris, Gideon Horváth, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Áron Lőrincz, Gábor Pintér, Luca Sára Rózsa, Éva Szombat, Zsuzsi Ujj, Ádám Ulbert, Dorottya Vékony
+ Omara (Mara Oláh)
Curated by: Peter Bencze
UGM | Maribor Art Gallery and Everybody Needs Art [ENA] (Budapest, Hungary) are proud to present a double-feature exhibition in two levels. On the ground floor of UGM Studio [ENA] founder and lead programmer Peter Bencze brings a cross-generational selection of artists, hailing predominantly from Central Europe, in a show enigmatically titled An eclectic attempt to complete the torso in my head. The international group exhibition is a showcase of body representation through different mediums, somewhere in-between folklore punk and new materialism. Meanwhile, the lower ground floor is dedicated to a single artist – the first solo exhibition of Omara (Mara Oláh) in Slovenia – the staging departing from the artist’s own writing in a painting: “How many times do I have to tell you – that I don’t do fortune telling at home – only on TV.”
Omara (Mara Oláh) (1945-2020) is one of the most important artists of Roma origin from Eastern Europe. In addition to her socially critical paintings, her performances, public exposures, outspoken statements and provocative appearances are an integral part of her oeuvre, and can be interpreted as a peculiar feminist attitude, a struggle for Roma emancipation. Omara has participated in many exhibitions in Hungary and abroad. In 2004, she took part in the group exhibition Silent Holocaust at Kunsthalle Budapest (Műcsarnok). In 2007 she exhibited in the first Roma pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and in 2009, her works were featured in an international context at the representative exhibition Gender Check. Femininity and Masculinity in the Art of Eastern Europe hosted by MUMOK, Vienna. Her solo shows include The Jewelry of One-Eyed Omara Is Only Visible with a Magnifying Glass (2011) at the Liget Gallery and Think What You Want, realised with her active participation in aqb Project Space (2017). Omara lived in a house she called “the luxury shack”, which she had built with her own means in the village Szarvasgede, Hungary, including a “swimming pool”. She died in 2020 at the age of 75. Her work is currently part of the documenta fifteen exhibition in Kassel, Germany, with twelve of her works on show at the Fridericianum.
Everybody Needs Art [ENA] is a hybrid organization with three exhibition spaces in Budapest – ENA Viewing Space, ENA Korner & Longtermhandstand – showcasing contemporary art internationally.
An exchange exhibition will be organised by UGM | Maribor Art Gallery in Budapest in 2023. Watch this space!
