The pilots of the Apollo 11 mission of the Unites States spaceflight programme made history when they landed on the Moon on 20 July in 1969.

The successful landing and the Moon walk of the two cosmonauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin – that was broadcast on television live across the globe – can be regarded as a milestone in human civilisation and the greatest scientific achievement of mankind.

The event also sent a symbolic message. More and more people began to think of the possibilities of making contact with alien cultures, while artists were also seriously preoccupied with this concept.

The Moon landing coincided with the unfolding of the Art and Technology Movement given impetus by the rapid progress in microelectronics and telecommunication, the growing popularity of kinetic and cybernetic art, as well as with Victor Vasarely’s op art gaining ground.

Vasarely reached the peak of his career in 1969 and had his largest-scale and most popular exhibitions in the same year. His works were met with success by the public as they found an adequate visual expression with which to convey the new scientific worldview captivating people’s imagination. 

The selected material of the exhibition pays tribute to ideas conceived half a century ago and aimed at the creation of space art. 

Through iconic – albeit not so well known – works, the show documents the desire of artists to throw off the earthly shackles and take their works to a distant point of the universe, possibly displaying them on the Moon.

The exhibition mounted at the Vasarely Museum will be made comprehensive not only by artefacts linked to the Moon and space  but also by some space travel equipment from the period, as well as recordings of the Moon landings and critical adaptations discrediting the landings, including responses by Hungarian artists.

The historical section, one of the most important parts of the exhibition, presents the Moon as an outstanding iconic symbol of universal culture through one work each from the epochs from Egyptian art to the invention of photography.

The exhibits displayed here serve as a kind of discursive field for the pieces made in the second half of the twentieth century.

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 5.45 pm

Entry until 5.15 pm. Closing begins at 5.45 pm.

Venue: 
Vasarely Museum
1033 Budapest, Szentlélek tér 6.

More: 
mng.hu

Photo courtesy of Vasarely Museum