Bálint Szombathy (1950, Pačir) is one of the key artists on the former Yugoslav and Hungarian art scene. He is a co-founder of the neo-avant-garde Bosch+Bosch Group (1969 – 1976), based in Subotica, one of the most influential art groups of the period, and the group which created in almost all existing media. Szombathy is a very active and strong-stance artist, working in action and performance, and he often uses photography to create conceptual and land art works, or as documentation of his projects. 

In his work, titled Evolution 1-3, Szombathy emphasises the struggling situation of artists in these times of the global pandemic. In Hungary, where the artist currently lives, the COVID-19 virus situation has taken a toll on all daily, social and economic activities. The artists are facing closed museums and galleries, they are unable to exhibit their work. They create in their studios, waiting and expecting the crisis to end so that they can restore their livelihoods and projects.

Budapest, 15/04/2020

Artists Respond project was started by the Institute for the Research of the Avant-Garde and the Marinko Sudac Collection. Addressing the current global pandemic, the project aims to virtually present the thoughts and attitudes of neo-avant-garde artists, their energy and the message they have for the present moment. This is the moment in which the world as we know it is on hold and the moment in which we need optimism and solidarity more than ever. We wish for the public to welcome the creative energy of these artists - artists who are ready to point out the state of things, to respond with art and creativity, as they have done in all difficult times in the past.

The most recent project of the Institute for the Research of the Avant-Garde and the Marinko Sudac Collection with Bálint Szombathy was the retrospective exhibition of the Bosch+Bosch Group (which he co-founded) titled Bosch+Bosch Group and the Vojvodina Neo-avant-garde Movement in the Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest in 2019.

See more: Bosch+Bosch Group and the Vojvodina Neo-avant-garde Movement

Bálint Szombathy was a participant of our Artist on Vacation project in 2012 and 2013, organised by the Institute for the Research of the Avant-Garde and the Marinko Sudac Collection, with Valamar All You Can Holiday in whose facilities they reside in Poreč.

See more: Artist on Vacation