László Lakner Explained

László Lakner (in Hungarian ˈlaːsloː ˈlɒknɛr/; born April 15, 1936, in Budapest) is a Hungarian-German painter, sculptor and conceptual artist. He lives and works in Berlin.[1] László Lakner was born in Budapest in 1936. His father was the architect László Lakner (same name), his mother Sára Lakner, born Sárközy. Lakner is the father of the Hungarian artist Antal Lakner, who was born in 1966. After a long period in the cities Essen and Berlin, László Lakner now lives and works exclusively in Berlin, in the Charlottenburg district. Among other art shows, he was invited three times to participate in the Venice Biennale (1972, 1976 and 1990) and once to the documenta in Kassel (1977).

The artist

From 1950, László Lakner attended the Art Gymnasium in his native home Budapest. He then studied painting with Professor Aurél Bernáth at the Hungarian Academy for Fine Arts in Budapest from 1954 until his graduation in 1960. In 1959 he created the first of numerous works of art based on found photographs. In 1963, Lakner was approved for his first trip to Western countries. He visited the Federal Republic of Germany and attended the Venice Biennale in Italy in 1964. In 1968 he traveled on a scholarship from the Museum Folkwang,[2] which permitted him a return to the Federal Republic of Germany and visit Switzerland[3] In 1972, Lakner worked for two months in the famous guest house of the Museum Folkwang in the city of Essen, where Martin Kippenberger also worked in a studio some years later. In 1974, he was invited to Berlin with a DAAD scholarship for the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program and decided to emigrate to Germany. In 1976 he was awarded the Bremen "Art Prize of Böttcherstraße" and in 1977 he was invited to the documenta VI in Kassel, where he exhibited several works from the fields of painting, drawing and book objects.

In the same year he received the German Critics' Prize and worked during 1981-1982 with a scholarship from the Berlin Senate in New York at MOMA P.S.1 art studio and gallery, at the same time as the Essen sculptor Carl Emanuel Wolff.

In 1998, he received the Kossuth Prize, the most prestigious Hungarian State Prize for his artistic work. In 2000, his self-portrait was included in the collection of the Uffizi Gallery / Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence.

The teacher

In 1979, Prof. Paul Vogt, the director of the Museum Folkwang, initiated the appointment of László Lakner as a lecturer of painting at the Essen University of Applied Sciences. He also lectured in the Department of Art History at the Free University of Berlin between 1979 and 1980. In 1982 he was finally appointed to the University of Essen (now the University of Duisburg-Essen), where he taught as a professor of experimental design until his retirement in 2001. In these 19 years he worked in Berlin and in his studio in Essen, which he left after 2002 to settle permanently in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. Lakner's professorship for experimental design, later occupied by Jörg Eberhard,[4] required a multidisciplinary expertise, as he supervised students from both the University of Essen and the current Folkwang University of the Arts. His students from this period include, among others, the cabaret artist and photographer Dieter Nuhr, painters Dirk Hupe, Jürgen Paas, Eberhard Ross, photographer and stage designer Johannes Gramm, Günter Sponheuer and Frank Piasta[5] [6]

Development of artwork

Since his beginnings in the 1950s, Lakner's work has moved with great flexibility and ease among many artistic forms, such as realistic and object-free representations in painting, photography, textual work, film, objects and sculptures. Most of his work was powered by his conceptual way of thinking, and independent of the art form and media used.

He turned his attention repeatedly to the same topics and motives within language, literature and the appearance of writing (see Paul Celan pictures[7] [8] [9]). The artistic results could be transformations of books[10] or manuscripts through paintings[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] or the integrations of books into art objects (see Buchaxt (book-axe)[16]). Other topics include the representations of heads and skulls (see Bandaged Heads[17] [18] [19] [20]) as metaphors or symbolisms of death.

When Lakner modified objects and written texts from famous artists and philosophers, he created a new artistic environment for them. The transition of one art form into another enabled Lakner to add complementary meanings to the quoted works, which would have been impossible if they remained in their original art form.[21] [22] [23]

This recontextualisation could inspire associations with powerful symbolic potential. Since his artistic origins are in realism, Lakner's artwork has evolved using a rich artistic language full of interwoven references and meanings.

1950s to 1970s

Painting

Lakner participated in IPARTERV exhibitions in Budapest in 1968 and 1969, which united the leading critical avant-garde artists in Hungary. In doing so, he presented works that subtly contained contemporary and cultural references. Parallel to non-representational pictures, which are to be understood as experimental, he painted realistic pictures from found photographic documents as early as the late 1950s.

Whilst demonstrating his virtuosity through painting, Lakner inspired associations between the history of art and contemporary political issues (see Seamstresses listen to a speech by Hitler[24] [25] [26] [27] [28]).

Lakner also closely examined the appropriateness of the artistic media used in Eastern European countries with their respective social reality. His observations allowed him to delve deeper into the world of realistic painting. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]

Lakner also created images that could be attributed to Pop Art (see Rose, 1968,[36] [37] [38] [39] Mund-Tondo / Mouth-Tondo, 1968, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest[40] [41] [42]). He also experimented with assemblages (see Fugitives, 1966, Hungarian National Gallery[43] and Letter to Barbara, 1964), monochrome paintings,[44] [45] posters[46] [47] and conceptual art;[48] they incorporated sometimes humor.[49] Furthermore, he also painted twin images that juxtaposed the same motif but in two different lighting and color situations (see Danae, 1967, Ludwig-Múzeum, Budapest[50]). Here, Lakner examined the limitations and possibilities within his realistic representations, creating a lasting theme that he continued to work with in Germany.

Conceptual art

In his conceptual art Lakner applies various methods of artistic transformation of literature as well as language. A major work in 1970 used a book on aesthetics, written by the Hungarian philosopher George Lukács, who signed it for him. Lakner tied it shut using a piece of string. He then placed the laced book on his studio wall, photographed it and then transformed it into a screen printed image.[51] This work (and its novel method of fabrication) was exhibited in 1972 at the Venice Biennale in the International Pavilion. Lakner continued working with this process by lacing other books,[52] as well as creating photorealistic paintings of such situations.

A similarly photorealistic painting is his naked self-portrait, in which he stands looking at the viewer, wearing only flip-flops and sunglasses. It is regarded as an outstanding political statement on the situation of the artist in the repressive Hungarian regime (see Self-portrait with self-timer, 1970, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.[53] [54] [55] The wish for change inspired many of his works (see Monument of the Revolutions, 1971, Museum Folkwang, Essen[56] and Barricade 1970 / oil on canvas / 150 × 200 cm).[57] He continued to base his photorealistic paintings on photographic documents,[58] often in brown-grey colours, brilliantly painting the change of sharpness in the depth of field from the original photo (Silence, Homage to Joseph Beuys, 1972 Ludwig Museum, Budapest[59]).

His attention turned increasingly to historical documents from different centuries, such as letters, dispatches or testaments. He carefully re-represented manuscripts, often written by famous people, showing them in front of a spatial background (see After Schopenhauer / Fragment).[60] [61] [62] This is the continuation of the previously mentioned usage of quotes in new artistic contexts, as well as an innovative exploration of using written text as a subject in paintings. This liberates the viewer to see them from a purely aesthetic perspective; as colour and shape[63] (see Cézanne's Last Letter, 1975, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam).[64] During this time Lakner received a DAAD scholarship in Berlin and migrated to the Federal Republic of Germany (1974).

1980s to the present

Lakner's guest stay 1981-1982 in New York at MoMA PS1 studio and gallery[65] was significant. Here Lakner experienced the illness and death of a good friend. During this time, he became also aware of graffiti on the walls of houses and in subway shafts. As a result, he painted on large bed sheets, in which individual words or slogans were applied with spray paint. "At that time, the graffiti of the Puerto Rican boys in the streets of New York meant more to me than anything else I saw in museums and galleries." He wanted "Black Milk", the words from Paul Celan's poem Death Fugue, "written big on a wall with a flamethrower."[66] In Isa Pur, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, he cites the oldest Hungarian Funeral Sermon and Prayer written in Latin script: “Behold, we are dust and ashes”. The single letters above the patchy colored ground are created by spray paint, or the paint is scratched away, reinforcing his narrative about life and death.[67] [68]

From the second half of the 1980s the abstract drawings, which could partly be read as rudimentary writing, were etched on thick impasto layers of paint. This technique resulted in pictures with graphic entanglements and lines above the color ground (see work group of splitted images on a box-like deep canvas, 1994).[69] In addition, he also made realistic sculptural works in bronze, which integrated not only the human figure, but also books (see Babel, 1985). On the monument for the Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti, Lakner shows his inner impressions and feelings, created by the poems, on the surface of an imaginary book, which is cast in bronze.[70] [71] The scripture on the tombstone of John Keats, the romantic English poet, ‘Here lies one whose name is writ in water’, inspired Lakner's painting, Keats' grave.[72]

From the mid-1990s, Lakner's interest returned to photography, which he was able to use conceptually. For example, in Paris he walked around in circles at the fictitious place where the poet Paul Celan committed suicide. Later, he created large-format photo sequences of these places (see exhibition 1999, Galerie Nothelfer, Berlin). In addition, representational images were also created with a new examination of the classical art of painting (see Berenice according to Edgar Allan Poe, 2004 – 2010).[73]

Interest in Asian cultures

During the Vietnam war (1955-1975) Lakner's interest turned to Asia.[74] [75] [76] Although he did not understand the meaning of calligraphies he saw, he was fascinated by their form and began to paint them. Often, he did not follow the method of calligraphy (painting with ink on rice paper with fast movements), but painted them with oil on canvas with meticulous precision. Not limiting himself with only that technique, he also completely reimagined the Little Red Book "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung" and created a new version of it with the title MAO BIBLE. Instead of being a source of Mao's ideology for the Cultural Revolution, the book is tightly bound with ropes and it is not possible to open it.[77] Some versions of this "Bible" are cast in bronze.[78] [79]

Another work was produced from an idealised Chinese photo, depicting farmers in the mountains being helped by Chinese soldiers. Lakner enlarged it to create a human-size photorealistic painting. The hand-written greeting of the newspaper editor who sent the photo to him, is also painted on the canvas.[80] [81]

Thus, the results of Lakner's Asian inspirations are artworks which are, despite their Asian topics, not copies of Asian art. They are rather transformations from Asian into Western traditions. They represent Lakner's conceptual innovations and multitude of artistic methods, with which he continues to explore the world.

Works in public collections

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selection):

Participations in exhibitions:

Literature (selection)

In English

(The English Literature list is much shorter than the German. Therefore, see also the German Literature list below this English list.)

In German

(These articles in German language are listed in the Literature section of the German Wikipedia article about László Lakner. That German list is here translated to English for orientation, in case you want to translate them by yourself or using machine translation, e.g. Google https://translate.google.com/ or Bing https://www.bing.com/translator)

References

  1. Article in Hungarian about László Lakner and his metamorphoses by Kriszta Dékei: http://balkon.art/1998-2007/balkon05_01/04dekei.htmll
  2. Catalog of the German National Library: books, exhibition catalogues and other publications about the work of László Lakner Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
  3. Kunstaspekte. International exhibition announcements and artist catalogue. László Lakner. Laszlo Lakner
  4. Central European Art Database: László Lakner. A good resource about his works and exhibitions until 2015 Central European Art Database
  5. László Lakner: Seamstresses Listen to Hitler’s Speech by Dávid Fehér 2011 Page 1-59 in Hungarian, page 60-109 in English
  6. László Lakner, by Dávid Fehér, Hungart Publications, Budapest, 2016. Page 1-31 in Hungarian, page 32-56 in English, page 57-135 Works of László Lakner
  7. Works of Lakner in books: Art and Democracy in Post-Communist Europe by Piotr Piotrowski,, Isa pur, in Historiographies. Concepts et débats, tome I,

Footnotes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Armin Hundertmark Gallery: Laszlo Lakner.
  2. Web site: Die Zeit: Kunstkalender: Essen Bis zum 14. Juni 1968, Museum Folkwang: "Ungarische Kunst der Gegenwart".
  3. Web site: Art directory: László Lakner.
  4. Web site: Pressemitteilung der Universität Duisburg-Essen. Zwei Professuren wieder besetzt.
  5. Web site: Exhibition: László Lakner and friends. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122404/http://www.ruhrkunst.com/2010/01/laszlo-lakner-and-friends.html. 2016-03-04. dead.
  6. Web site: Klasse László Lakner 1989: 12 Schüler zeigen Bilder und Gouachen, Essen 1989.
  7. Web site: Google image search for "László Lakner" inspired by "Paul Celan".
  8. Web site: "László Lakner" paintings inspired by "Paul Celan".
  9. Web site: Art inspired by Paul Celan.
  10. Web site: László Lakner. Bilder und Objekte. 24. Oktober - 24. Dezember 1982, Ausstellungshaus d. Galerie Heimeshoff Essen. 1982.
  11. Web site: Book-objects.
  12. Web site: Book object.
  13. Web site: Book object.
  14. Web site: László Lakner. Buchwerke / Book works 1969 - 2009, Text: György Konrád.
  15. Web site: Livre imaginaire.
  16. Web site: Lakner László: Barrikád - a forradalmak emlékműve.
  17. Web site: Engedelmesen (Obediently).
  18. Web site: Scripture and head, distant clarity.
  19. Book: Köpfe und Schädel - Eine Bildauswahl. László Lakner. Rimbaud Presse & Niessen Art Print Publishers. 1997. 978-3-89086-827-1.
  20. Web site: Köpfe und Schädel II.
  21. Web site: László Lakner: Schwarze Milch (1983) (two words from Paul Celan's poem "Death Fugue").
  22. Web site: Title: Du Côté de Chez Swann (Marcel Proust: Dedication for Jacques Lacretelle II, April 20, 1918), 1975.
  23. Web site: Words and Images (After a Work by René Magritte) .
  24. Web site: Article: The Political Art that Shaped Cold War Hungary. An exhibition at the Wende Museum explores the art and culture of socialist-era Hungary and offers a chance to consider relationships between art and politics during the Cold War..
  25. Web site: See the painting "Seamstresses listen to a speech by Hitler" (Hungarian: Varrólányok Hitler beszédét hallgatják) in an article in the Hungarian art magazine Új Művészet.
  26. Web site: Seamstresses listen to a speech by Hitler.
  27. Web site: Lakner, Laszlo - BUDAPEST, MUSEUM DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE - 'Näherinnen hören eine Rede Hitlers". Die Geschichte eines verschollenen und wiedergefundenen Bildes. Katalog von Dávid Fehér. Budapest 2011.
  28. Web site: Article: Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest: Seamstresses Listen to Hitler's Speech (1960).
  29. Web site: LÁSZLÓ LAKNER: COTTON COLLECTORS IN KAZAKHSTAN (1972).
  30. Web site: László Lakner: Shipyard Welders, 1959, oil on canvas, 98.5 x 132 cm.
  31. Web site: Me, one of Them, 1970, Mixed media / photomontage, 11 4/5 × 9 4/5 × 2/5 in, 30 × 25 × 1 cm.
  32. Web site: Shipyard workers, oil on canvas, 105 x 130 cm, 1960.
  33. Web site: Laszlo Lakner: Factory, oil on canvas, 35 x 40 cm, 1961.
  34. Web site: Lakner László (1936): Girl in the window, 1957.
  35. Web site: Lakner László: Still-life (Marketplace), around 1963, Oil on canvas, 40,5 x 50,5 cm.
  36. Web site: Brown Rose.
  37. Web site: Rose.
  38. Web site: Rose (zigzag) 1969.
  39. Web site: Roses 1969.
  40. Web site: See the first painting Mouth-Tondo in the Hungarian Art Magazine.
  41. Web site: Exhibition catalogue with the painting of a mouth.
  42. Web site: Mouth (Száj).
  43. Web site: Fugitive.
  44. Web site: László Lakner: Overview and Monochromie, Selected works, book, published by Modern Art Gallery, Vass Laszlo Collection, Veszprem, 2018..
  45. Web site: Lakner László: Overview and Monochromie, video, published by Modern Art Gallery, Vass Laszlo Collection, Veszprem, 2018.
  46. Web site: Poster for Jowita, a Polish film shown in Hungary.
  47. Web site: László Lakner: Fellini: Rome, 1973, film poster.
  48. Web site: László Lakner. I put on The Shape of the Stairs, 1971.
  49. Web site: My footprints on the moon between Sarpentele and Urhida (two Hungarian villages) Mixed media, 1970.
  50. Web site: DANAE 1 (1968).
  51. Web site: See the 2nd illustration in the Artmagazin (in Hungarian).
  52. Web site: "Laszlo Lakner's Sand-Book" (article in Hungarian) with photos of book-objects.
  53. Web site: Article in the Hungarian art magazine Divany.hu: A meztelen ferfi / The naked man - Ludwig museum, Budapest, 2013.
  54. Web site: The naked man. Exhibition of the LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz at the Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest, March-June 2013.
  55. Web site: László Lakner: Self-portrait with a self-timer, 1970 (Uffizi).
  56. Web site: László Lakner: Barricade - Monument of the revolutions (2003–2004).
  57. Web site: Barricade, oil on canvas, and other works at the exhibition: László Lakner: Prediction-Art of the Trapez Gallery, Hungary.
  58. Web site: The Art of Hungary. October 18, 2016 – January 8, 2017, Boca Raton Museum of Art. Catalog, Figure 12: László Lakner (b. 1936): Paprika, 1984, Oil on canvas, Nancy G. Brinker Collection..
  59. Web site: László Lakner: Silence (Hommage à Joseph Beuys) 1971.
  60. Web site: László Lakner: After Schopenhauer / Fragment, 1976, oil on canvas, 200 x 120 cm. (78.7 x 47.2 in.).
  61. Web site: László Lakner: Schopenhauer Notes 9, 1976. Oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm.
  62. Web site: László Lakner: Schopenhauer, 1976, oil / canvas, 2 parts, 161 x 298 cm.
  63. Web site: And Paint ... - László Lakner: Isa pur ... (exhibition) article in Hungarian / És festék... - Lakner László: Isa pur... (kiállítás). 2007-06-28. magyarnarancs.hu. hu. 2019-03-17.
  64. Web site: Draft of a letter by Paul Cézanne, 1884.
  65. Web site: MoMA National and International Studio Program. Providing studio space for artists.
  66. Web site: Gallery Georg Nothelfer: László Lakner, for his 70th birthday. Scripture and picture 2006 / Galerie Georg Nothelfer: Lakner zum 70. Geburtstag. Schrift und Bild 2006 /. www.galerie-nothelfer.de. 2019-03-24.
  67. Web site: Title page of the book LAKNER LÁSZLÓ, written by Fehér Dávid.
  68. Web site: Laszlo Lakner: Isa Pur, Petofi Museum for Literature (Petofi Irodalmi Museum, Budapest, Hungary).
  69. Web site: Galerie Bassenge writes: Applied with a broad coarse brush is the impasto, brown-violet and white color, into which Lakner digs the barely legible lettering with his brush stalk ....
  70. Web site: Monument for the Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti.
  71. Web site: Monument for the Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti (emlékmű).
  72. Web site: László-Lakner: Keats' Grave,1989, Image courtesy of Sylvan Cole Gallery.
  73. Web site: Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven. Lakner, Laszlo..
  74. Web site: Saigon, South Vietnam, 11 June 1963. Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc sets himself ablaze in protest against alleged religious persecution by the South Vietnamese government..
  75. Web site: Lakner László: Saigon. Protest of Buddhist monks, oil on canvas, 200 x 130 cm (1968), Janus Pannonius Museum, Pecs, Hungary.
  76. Web site: Saigon, 1969, oil on canvas, 123×210 cm.
  77. Web site: Mao Bible, Laszlo Lakner, 1987.
  78. Web site: MAO BIBLE, unpolished bronze.
  79. Web site: MAO BIBLE, polished bronze.
  80. Web site: File:Catalog "László Lakner Chinesische Postkarte", PDF 05.jpg.
  81. Web site: See within the photos of the Hungarian gallery Trapez.

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