23.10.'56 / 1989
Poster
1989 (published)
1989 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Péter Pócs's image is an ironic expression of the reversal of history, symbolising the ultimate success of the failed 1956 Hungarian Uprising in the end of Communist power in Hungary in 1989. His use of raw meat as a symbol of Communism was a deliberate attempt to convey both its live force and its subsequent demise. This image completed Pócs's deconstruction of the Communist star, which he had made through a series of earlier posters. The Hungarian Socialist Workers Party reformed itself in 1988 and paved the way for increasing liberalisation. The most significant changes were in early 1989 when the Party agreed in principle to a multi-party political system. It also agreed to an official re-evaluation of the events of 1956, whereby the old official description, that of 'counter-revolution', was replaced by 'popular uprising'. This decision turned into a political trap that irretrievably damaged die-hard Communists.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Colour offset lithograph printed on paper |
| Brief description | Poster,' 23.10.'56', commemorating the 1956 Hungarian uprising, designed by Péter Pócs, Hungary, 1989 |
| Physical description | Portrait format poster printed from photographic image in colours. Moustrap, trapping a piece of red flesh cut into the shape of a star. At the top left corner of the image a black panel with the date '56.10.23. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | P- art - Pócs. '89 (Signature; date; on right margin; colour offset lithography) |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Mücsarnok, Budapest, through Kristzina Jerger. Reproduced courtesy of DACS, London 1997 |
| Production | Published illegally by the artist to mark the public memorial service and reburial on 16 June 1989 of Imre Nagy and other executed leaders of the 1956 anti-Communist uprising, signifying their political rehabilitation, Hungary, 1989. Reason For Production: Commemorative |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Péter Pócs's image is an ironic expression of the reversal of history, symbolising the ultimate success of the failed 1956 Hungarian Uprising in the end of Communist power in Hungary in 1989. His use of raw meat as a symbol of Communism was a deliberate attempt to convey both its live force and its subsequent demise. This image completed Pócs's deconstruction of the Communist star, which he had made through a series of earlier posters. The Hungarian Socialist Workers Party reformed itself in 1988 and paved the way for increasing liberalisation. The most significant changes were in early 1989 when the Party agreed in principle to a multi-party political system. It also agreed to an official re-evaluation of the events of 1956, whereby the old official description, that of 'counter-revolution', was replaced by 'popular uprising'. This decision turned into a political trap that irretrievably damaged die-hard Communists. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.153-1991 |
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| Record created | March 5, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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