drMáriás: Éljen a diktatúra!

Short listing

2026. január 29-én este 7 órakor nyílik meg a Godot Kortárs Művészeti Intézetben drMáriás –

Full exhibition text

2026 January 29 at 7 o’clock, DrMáriás opens at the Godot Contemporary Art Institute –

The large‑scale jubilee exhibition titled “Long Live the Dictatorship!”, which showcases the artist 60.

on his birthday, as well as on the 40 anniversary of the existence of the band Tudósok.

It is related.

During the opening, Gergely Karácsony, the Mayor of Budapest, will give a welcome speech.

The artist’s creative work is presented by art historian Zoltán Rockenbauer.

On the international significance of Dr Máriás – Peter Tomaž Dobrila, Maribor’s Kibla Contemporary.

Director of the Multimedia Art Centre, curator of the Venice Biennale, and of Maribor Europe.

The CEO of the Cultural Capital project is speaking.

«Az Éljen a diktatúra!» is not merely a retrospective summary, but an introduction to a complex, layered artistic universe. Paintings, characters, visual and verbal motifs, and spatial installations form a single whole that outlines drMáriás’s distinctive, instantly recognisable vision. Here humour is not an illustrative element, but a device: it releases and sharpens tension, at the same time continuously urging the viewer toward reflection.

The exhibition occupies 1100 square metres and takes up the complete area of the Godot Institute. The material on display runs from early paintings that carry a punk sense of freedom to later works that condense political and historical reflections. Particular emphasis is given to the previously unseen paper‑chip images, as well as the most recent paintings, videos and installations.

drMáriás’s art works in a multidisciplinary sense: picture, text, music and gesture reinforce one another to create meaning. Her humour is not levelling, but a communication strategy – an entry point into a visual and intellectual space where extremes, vivid colours, provocative verbalism and irony together leave no one indifferent.

“This continuous trigger of reactions is what makes Dr Máriá’s art alive, relevant, and indispensable in contemporary Hungarian visual art,” said Laczkovich Borbála, the artistic director of the Godot Institute.

The exhibition is directly linked to the work titled “Long Live Dictatorship!” which was released in December 2025

to a large‑scale artistic album, which now also takes the form of an exhibition.

dr Máriás (Béla Máriás), visual artist, writer and musician. Since the 1980s, he has been a defining figure in the Hungarian alternative and contemporary art scene. His paintings, writings and musical works are closely intertwined: his art is characterised by ironic humour, striking colour palettes and political‑social reflections. He is a founding member and current frontman of the band Tudósok.

In his work, the questions of Eastern European historical experience, identity and freedom emerge in a multidisciplinary artistic form.

Curator: Laczkovich Borbála, Kozák Gábor

Curatorial assistant: Gergő Lukács

Visitor information:

tickets here

The exhibition 2026 is open from 30 January to 30 April, from Thursday to Sunday, 14–19.

Subject: 1036 Budapest, Fényes Adolf Street 21

godot.hu

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