magyar

Miklós Erdély - Flag Sign Action, 1976

Opening of György Galántai's exhibition in the Stúdió Gallery, Budapest, 1976
(reconstruction, 1978 – photos: János Vető)
[postcard-invitation]

REMEMBRANCE OF A MESSAGE

In 1976, I did, and then put on exhibit a series of silkscreen prints based on a self-portrait taken with a photo booth. The series meant to investigate the questions of personality, existence and the ego.

I asked Miklós Erdély to open the exhibition. He told me to get a copy of the International Code of Signals. At the opening, Erdély read out the text explaining a particular code, while I signalled the code with flags. At the same time, two other friends of ours tried to strike a fire for the purpose of sending smoke signals.

Miklós Erdély died in 1986.

Miklós Erdély was not just a colleague of mine, my teacher and my friend, but also one of the greatest figures of Hungarian art.

To preserve his spirit I've prepared this memorial, which develops the theme of the 1976 opening (my assistant was Katalin Timár, photos were taken by Júlia Klaniczay). (1987)

I realized a bookwork and a performance with slideshow of this memorial project, where I've used a text of Miklós Erdély from 1981 as an introduction. (CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POST-NEO-AVANTGARD ATTITUDE)

György Galántai: Remembrance of a Message, 1988

REMEMBRANCE OF A MESSAGE, 1988, DIN A5, 54 pages, photocopied. [back-side]