THE ARTIST VOICE, curated by the internationally acclaimed curator and art historian Dr. Lorand Hegyi, features 34 contemporary artists from various countries and across different generations. These works suggest a strong belief in the ethical character and powerful mission of contemporary art to convey visual metaphors about human existence, through strong expressive language which reinforces and highlights the emotional, passionate and human character of contemporary art.

This exhibition focuses on the capacity and competence of contemporary art to transfer essential messages and existential revelations about life, truth, historical visions, ethical values, anthropological constellations. In a historical period dominated by a sense of crisis, disillusionment, instability

and disorientation, the artist has the power and the responsibility to send their messages about human perspectives, creating new connections between different fields and experiences and providing multiple systems of interpreting the complexity of contemporary reality.

About the Curator

Dr. Lóránd Hegyi is a respected art historian and art critic specializing in modern and contemporary art in Central and East Europe as well as in the Italian and French art scene. He curated several exhibitions for leading artists from Central and East Europe (such as Roman Opalka, Ilya Kabakov, Braco Dimitrievic, Marina Abramovic, Zdenek Sykora, Karel Malich, Laszlo Feher, Tamas Hencze, Hermann Nitsch, Günter Brus, Franz West, Lois Weinberger) as well as Italian and French artists (such as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Alighiero Boetti, Bertrand Lavier, Jean-Pierre Reynaud, Claude Viallat, Jean- Marc Bustamante and Anne et Patrick Poirier).

His exhibitions include: (Venice Biennale in 1993), Beuys" (Vienna, 1996),"The House, the Body, The Heart - Construction of Identities" (Vienna, 1999),"Concepts of Space" (Barcelona,2002), "Solares: The Ideal City or the Optimism" (Valencia Biennial, 2003), "Settlements: Search for Possible Places" (Saint-Etienne, 2004), "Passage Europe: Art from Central and East Europe" (Saint-Etienne, 2004), “The Giving Person”(Napoli, 2004), “Micro Narratives” (Belgrade, Saint Etienne 2007), “Islands Never Found” (Saint Etienne, Geneva, Thessaloniki 2012), “Intriguing Uncertainty- Contemporary Drawings” (Saint-Etienne 2016).

Beside his curatorial activity, he wrote numerous books and articles about contemporary art and cultural criticism focusing on the social and political context of artistic praxis in Central and East Europe as well as on the anthropological discourse of contemporary art. His publications include: Sensibility - Change of Paradigm in Contemporary Art" (Magreto, Budapest 1993), "Roman Opalka's Places" (Prestel, Passau 2000), "The Courage to Be Alone - Re-inventing of Narratives in Contemporary Art" (Charta, Milano 2004), “Fragility of Narratives” (Skira, Milano 2008), “Central European Art” (Silvana, Milano 2011), “Contemporary Art on Show” (Silvana, Milano 2012), “Roman Opalka’s Universalism” (Aragno, Torino 2015), “Significant Uncertainty” (Hapax, Torino 2016).