The exhibition titled Duende focuses on one of the deepest and most elusive concepts in Roma art. The term, known from Spanish-Andalusian Roma (gitano) culture and interpreted by Federico García Lorca, does not simply mean inspiration or talent, but rather the inner force that bursts forth from underground roots, enabling the artist to transcend technique and convey the raw, passionate truth of the soul. Duende is the moment when a work of art is not just an image, but a presence; not just a form, but a moving experience.
The dual exhibition brings together the works of two painters with different temperaments but deeply related sensibilities: Mónika Ökrös's instinctive, inwardly driven creative attitude and János Lukács's analytical, observant painterly thinking.
The two artists approach the same source from different directions. Mónika Ökrös reaches it from the depths of her instincts, while János Lukács arrives there through conscious observation, where technique becomes merely a tool, and the painting becomes a direct imprint of the soul. What they have in common is empathy, a human-centred approach, and a sensitivity stemming from their Roma identity, which is not expressed as a thematic declaration but rather becomes present in the atmosphere and the emotional intensity of the images.
Koppány Rözge, art historian
