Should We Be Workers or Soldiers? Csaba Nemes

A significant proportion of the work of Csaba Nemes deals with the changes affecting Central Europe after the fall of communism. In his series of paintings collectively titled Father’s Name, continuously expanded since 2009, Csaba Nemes utilises photographs taken by his father that document various political and communal events. This series includes the work titled Should We Be Workers or Soldiers?, which recalls an urban housing estate during the period of modernism under the regime of János Kádár, featuring public statues of the kind common in the 1960s. Nemes consciously strives to process and reinterpret images of a political nature that have been inherited from the past. In his paintings, the political past and the personal past contend with each other in a unique perspective. His works can also be understood as critical reflections on the social and political issues of today.

Mónika Kumin