Partially on view through January 26, 2014
Reception with Dean Catherine Quinlan of the USC Libraries: Saturday, September 21, 2013
Reception at 5:30pm; Program at 6pm
A portion of Laszlo Ivanyi: Diary along the mezzanine at ONE Archives will remain on view through January 26, 2014. Opening October 26, 2013, the downstairs gallery will present Caroline May: The Killing Pictures and Other Works, also on view through January 26, 2014.
ONE Archives at the USC Libraries is pleased to present a solo exhibition of artwork by Hungarian-born, French artist Laszlo Ivanyi. Laszlo Ivanyi: Diary includes a selection of artworks recently donated to ONE Archives by the artist including a series of mural-sized abstractions and numerous figurative studies. Quotations from Ivanyi’s unpublished diary accompany the artworks, illuminating the work and life of this fascinating artist, musician, and writer. This exhibition marks Ivanyi’s first solo show in the United States.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1934, Ivanyi immigrated to France in 1956 to study at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. A prodigious pianist since childhood, Ivanyi earned a living in his new country as a piano teacher, becoming well acquainted with important figures in French society such as the Rothschilds, while privately pursuing his passion for the visual arts. His early work in the 1960s and 1970s focused on producing expansive, lyrical abstract paintings on paper. Beginning in the 1980s, the artist began to experiment with figurative studies on mylar using color palettes reminiscent of photonegative processes.
In addition to the numerous artworks Ivanyi deposited at ONE, the artist also donated a copy of his diary chronicling his life in Paris in the 1960s and his early relationship with partner Gregoire Bertier. Intimate, frank, and deeply passionate, this text is a powerful window into the personal life of a gay artist in postwar France. The activity of keeping a diary has been important throughout the artist’s life. Prior to writing the diary now at ONE, which Ivanyi identifies as his “body diary” he recorded a “soul diary” documenting his childhood in Hungary during and after WWII. The title of this exhibition evokes the personal, reflective, and psychological nature of Ivanyi’s writing and practice as an artist.
On September 21, Dean Catherine Quinlan of the USC Libraries will hold a reception welcoming Laszlo Ivanyi and Gregoire Bertier into the USC Trojan Legacy Circle. Kindly RSVP to the reception by September 18, 2013 at www.usc.edu/esvp (code: ONE) or call 213-821-1642.
