~Ahh Budapest again… I missed it.
I made an art trip to the capital recently; this time to see a peculiar Hungarian artist's exhibition. Her name was Ország Lili [1926 – 1978] and I only heard her name for the first time in my life just last year... that's a shame…
She was not only a painter but a graphic designer and puppet designer as well. The exhibition was only about her paintings, although I'm very into handmade puppets; I would gladly saw hers… Anyway. Her style was surrealism in her earlier period, later she turned into constructivism what – sadly – I dislike, but I really enjoyed her earlier works.
Her childhood story is just as heartbreaking as her paintings; I try to summarise her life in a nutshell: She was born to a Jewish family as Lívia Oestereicher. One of her uncle was a doctor and was into mysticism as well what was a very inspiring thing to the little Lili too. She started to be concerned with art at a very early age [12] and wanted to be a painter but her parents, especially her mother was against the whole idea [with not much success thank goodness…] what caused a continual argument between the two. Then it came a bigger problem, the WW2. On the Spring of 1944 the Nazi troops finally occupied the country. The entire family was forced into a Nazi internment camp, what was an old desolated brickworks in the city they lived... They spent three weeks in that camp without enough water and food... On the road to Auschwitz - with a huge luck - she and her parents could escape from the hell-train and fleed to Budapest and lived in fear and secrecy under the bomb attacks of the capital till the end of the war.
Her fear never faded and the [brick]walls of terror carved into her soul forever. She stated once that "the walls are inside me now"; and the 'wall' as symbol became her main motif for the rest of her life. She never regained from the mental terror she suffered from the force against her family and what she had to endure under the siege of Budapest...
I guess
I'm lucky with my just bullying-memories from schools [and some other things later] although those events were enough to me to live my life now as a
distrustful, grumpy, antisocial, furious feminist – and too honest… - granny-like creature among my own walls, but you know what, nevermind now... The past is past and I'm happy now anyhow so I shut it. I'm free, I can create what I want, do what I want, eat what I want. That is what matter! Especially the 'eat' part... I just need a better job and a more creative city around me and I will be in Heaven! 😸 *nyaaa*
~Ouhh I'm tiring for myself... Back to the darling Lili:
After the war she studied at the University of Fine Arts and spent her time of youth searching for her "cause". She was influenced by some famous surreal artists of her time: Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte [I love his works too!], Paul Delvaux and Toyen/Marie Cerminova [whom she knew personally].
After the university she worked as scenist [later puppet designer] at the Puppet Theatre. She married to a physiotherapist, whom she travelled with many places. Every country she visited influenced her, especially the local religious art. She found the Pravoslav icons very interesting, then in Naples and in Pompeii she found the two places' historical and mytological backgrounds inspiring. She used these inspirations at her own works. But later she found her own topic ["cause"] for good: the roots and symbols of her own nation. That is when she started her constructivist [and mixed media] style in the early 60's with Hebrew writings and characters, Jewish gravestone imitations and later her favourite topic, the labyrinth of walls [of mystery and life] and the Western Wall of Jerusalem.
She had a few but close friends, whom were famous contemporary Hungarian artists, writers and poets. Later she devorced from her husband and lived a modest and quiet life in a puritan home with only some old furnitures and her painting tools. They knew her as a cultured, clever, irrational, emotional, melancholic and 'too-quiet-for-an-artist' person, whom only live for her cause and art. Not only she was a mystery, but her death as well. Her friends remained too silence after she suddenly passed away at the age of 52. It was never comfirmed officially that she was sick or perhaps she had commited suicide... [but the suicide theory is the most certain :( ]
Her studio was somewhere in the castle, I just don't know where. :(((((((
Although I'm not really into constuctivism, the whole exhibition was a 'deep impact' to me! ...or should I say 'armageddon'! ...or that that day was my 'independence day'! ... Ok I finished. I not even liked those movies...
By the way, this exhibition was her first countrywide one with all of her painting works. So she was just another talented artist from the many who had been acknowledged only after the death… Typical.
Well, after the long novel I wrote about her, here are some paintings [I could find on Google] from her early, surrealist era.
As you will see her works are everything but estetical, beautiful or nice to the senses, rather give some discomfort to the viewer. Maybe if her childhood wasn't a hell she would painted more delighful pictures… but the hell with delighfulness!
This was her first work with 'the Wall'. She stated, that she grew up at the very moment she was forced into that camp, although inside she remained a fearful little child because of it for the rest of her life…
As a shoe-lover I enjoyed this painting about black shoes, although the real meaning of this work is far more than a 'painting about gothish shoes'…
This is my favourite, the "Veiled lady"
[Photo from http://www.szombat.org/kultura-muveszetek/arny-a-kovon-orszag-lili-kiallitas-az-magyar-nemzeti-galeriaban]
The painting probably has a certain meaning although to me it's about something else… that no matter what, I have to stay strong and carry on follow my own path out from the labyrith of the ordinary fate what they [the society or a god] expect from me as a woman and want to show me the direction by any means like that raw black hand… although who knows, maybe the way-out, the aim is near to me where those birds fly…
Or not.
Another good one, the "Anxiety" or as I call this piece, the Ghetto Madonna [the Holy one not the Old Hag one].
[Photo from http://artportal.hu/magazin/klasszikus/egy-nagy-eletmu-ujrafelfedezese-orszag-lili-modem]
Well this painting is certainly give me some kind of anxiety, because it paradoxically chills me out as I look at it… The woman's sitting pose is look like she is just simply meditating, although the whole picture is obviously depressive with that – probably ghetto - wall and huge ever-hungry rat what already ate her toes on her left feet…
She had many eras, depends on what was her inspiration at the moment. So she had a 'moon-era' as well, what I really liked
[Photo from http://pilpul.net/komoly/lakatlan-lelkek]
Well, I could carry on and on, so if you are interested try to use Google search for more works.
After this refreshing exhibition I went for a walk in the other side of the castle, where they finished the renovation of the old courtyard, the Lion Yard beside the History Museum [The whole castle will be renovated in the near future!]
Sorry, but this ancient well was just too… and I just watch toooo much movies…
I just couldn't leave this wall part behind… this is just a piece from an ordinary renovated stone wall, but after Lili's paintings I saw more in this stone-brick wall part [maybe I'm odd but I don't care…]
Silly photo, but I just wondered what was the meaning of this… "Love Nature Hate…" ??? Who?! Antifa? Anita? [Ekberg?] Hahaha
"Iron Lion Zion"
The perfect home for a hardcore antisocial... Hahhaha
Now this would be too much for me at the moment, but maybe after 30 more years in this boring city of mine among these annoyingly ordinary people and I will gladly choose a place like this...
Breakfast.
I started my morning in my favourite sandwich shop, Duran [Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street 7] I wrote about many times I think.
~Ohh how I love that place! Those tiny little jewels… 😚
Lunch.
I tried out another 'new-wave' street-food restaurant. This creative place is a tiny shop under 41 Museum blvd. [near Kálvin Square]. Its name is Mamma Sferico and sells pasta/rice+meat balls; in short: spaghetti balls/dumplings. The idea of these balls came from the Sicilian delicacy, the arancini. The shop is very new, it opened just in last December but already a success.
I was in a hurry to get my bus back to Veszprém, so I just picked the basic pasta-beef balls with spicy tomato sauce. It was delicious!
You can ask for 5 or 7 balls at a time. I ate 5 balls but I remained hungry a bit, so I think it's better ask the 7 balls. The price of a combo [balls + sauce] is the same as other street-foods in Budapest, from 1000 Ft to 1200 Ft. There are homemade honey tea and Tiramisu on the Menu and various soft drinks as well. The serving was very friendly too... Seriously the girl in the shop just couldn't leave me eat, just asked me again [because I'm from the countryside] and just talked and talked about her life in Budapest 😅 She was nice and probably a little bit lonely in the big city where you can rearly get a nice word [I experienced this feeling before…] but I was hungry!!!! …not to mention in a hurry… But if you are not as moody and antisocial as I am and have more patience when you are hungry than me, you will enjoy a nice talk by your meal for free. 😇
Next time I will try out something not to ordinary combo for sure like the rice-salmon balls with curry sauce or chicken balls with French cheese sauce or rice-beef balls with hoisin sauce or spinach sauce or... Playful place hey-heyy! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Oh and the best news that the owner is planning a food-truck from this shop in the near future, so maybe they will be on this years' Veszprém Street Music Festival in July too! …Oh god the only problem is which of my favourite food-truck will I choose then… My first love, the Meat & Sauce truck…? …or the Paneer cheesery heaven truck…? 🙏 🙌 🙇 ...oh I'm confused, I don't know this time although July is still in the future… *loud baby crying*
I'm utterly hopeless with my big "problems"…
Good Day!/Szép napot! ✌
