A major exhibition titled "Vasarely Don't Go Home!" opens at NEO Contemporary Art Space in Budapest, marking the 120th anniversary of Victor Vasarely's birth. Curated by Zsolt Petrányi, the show runs until 19 September and examines Vasarely's influence on Hungarian experimental and neo-avant-garde art of the 1960s and 1970s. Featuring over 60 works, the exhibition is organized around three themes—construction, grid structures, and illusion—and connects to parallel Vasarely shows at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hungarian National Gallery. The title references a 1969 protest where artist János Major carried a sign reading 'Vasarely go home!' during Vasarely's exhibition at Műcsarnok.
This exhibition matters because it reassesses Vasarely's contested legacy in Hungary, where his work was once criticized by younger avant-garde artists, even as international museums continue to celebrate him. By placing op-art and kinetic art within a broader cultural and historical context—including space exploration, computer technology, and anti-colonial movements—the show highlights the enduring dialogue between Vasarely's geometric abstraction and Hungarian neo-avant-garde practices. It also coincides with the 50th anniversaries of the Vasarely Museum and the artist's foundation in Aix-en-Provence, underscoring his lasting global impact.