The exhibition entitled Future Present is a very big thing. This comprehensive retrospective of László Moholy-Nagy introduces the career of this pioneering artist who was the biggest Hungarian name of the 20^th century and who believed art could work hand-in-hand with technology for the betterment of humanity. Many of the works have never even made out in Hungary.

This is the first comprehensive retrospective of Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946) to appear in the United States in nearly fifty years. The exhibition presents an unparalleled opportunity to examine the career of this pioneering painter, photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker as well as graphic, exhibition, and stage designer, who was also an influential teacher at the Bauhaus, a prolific writer, and later the founder of Chicago’s Institute of Design. In 2006, the 125-year-old University of Applied Arts in Budapest took his name and now operates as Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.

video: https://twitter.com/Guggenheim/status/735146656203563008

Moholy-Nagy experimented with cameraless photography; the use of industrial materials in painting and sculpture; researched light, transparency, and movement; worked at the forefront of abstraction; and also was curious about the fluidity with which he moved between the fine and applied arts.

This exhibition includes more than 300 collages, drawings, ephemera, films, paintings, photograms, photographs, photomontages, and sculptures, including works from public and private collections across Europe and the United States. Many of the artworks have never been shown publicly in the U.S. before. The Room of the Present is also on display, which, though the artist never realized during his lifetime, illustrates Moholy’s belief in the power of images and various means by which to view them—a highly relevant paradigm in today’s constantly shifting and evolving technological world.

The exhibition can be viewed from 27 May until 7 September.