Exhibition of sculptor Lőrinc Popovics now open at Reök Szeged

NewsCulture

Mar 22

SZEGED, Hungary – An exhibition showcasing 140 works by Szeged-based sculptor Lőrinc Popovics opened Friday at the Reök Palace, offering a comprehensive overview of the artist’s decades-long career.

Titled A fény felé (Toward the Light), the exhibition traces Popovics’ artistic evolution from early figurative works, including the St. Barbara statue near Szeged’s Belvárosi Bridge, to his later, distinctive compositions combining stone and glass.

The show was introduced to the press on Thursday ahead of its official opening. Speaking at the event, Popovics described the exhibition as unconventional, highlighting the presence of stylistic shifts throughout the collection.

Curator Róbert Nátyi, an art historian, said interpreting Popovics’ oeuvre in words is a challenging task. He noted that while some sculptures aim to depict, Popovics’ works primarily seek to evoke thought and reflection.

Nátyi, who first encountered the artist’s work at a 2002 exhibition in Csongrád, said the sculptor’s early period focused on mastering traditional techniques. By the late 1990s, Popovics had developed his own artistic language, and in the early 2000s began experimenting with the combination of stone and glass.

The pairing of the two materials, Nátyi said, brings together contrasting qualities – the weight and permanence of stone with the more ethereal nature of glass – creating what he described as a bold and philosophical artistic approach.

Unlike traditional retrospectives, the exhibition is not arranged chronologically. Instead, it presents works from different periods side by side to highlight recurring themes and connections across the artist’s body of work.

Popovics’ career spans multiple mediums, beginning with repoussé metalwork and later incorporating metal casting and wood carving before settling on stone as his primary material.

Nátyi described the sculptor’s most significant works as “timeless,” combining modern forms with archaic qualities that evoke a sense of an ancient, almost prehistorical world.

The exhibition will be on view at the Reök Palace through the end of April.