“A huszadik századi magyar textilművészet kiemelkedő alkotója, megújítója.” That’s what the inscription says here on the Gecser Lujza Plaque. This plaque commemorates the life and work of Lujza Gecser. She was an influential figure in Hungarian textile art.
Gecser Lujza was born in Budapest in 1943. She died in Budapest in 1988. Though her life was short, her impact on the art world was significant. The Gecser Lujza Plaque is a tribute to her innovative spirit.
She graduated as a woven material designer from the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts between 1964 and 1968. She received a scholarship from the Hungarian Spinning and Weaving Factory. The Textile/Wall Hangings ’68 exhibition at the Ernst Museum coincided with her graduation year. It was a springboard for the emancipation of Hungarian textile art. Gecser became a key figure in the textile revival that followed.
Gecser radically broke with traditional textile art. She created the classics of Hungarian spatial textile art in the mid-seventies. She constantly explored textile structure. She also looked into using new materials as textiles.
Gecser’s persistent research was in sync with the art world’s interest in textile art. This interest could be traced back to the historical avant-garde. It led to the introduction of fiber art. By the eighties, Gecser explored conceptual art. She broke from textile art’s applied roots. She embraced autonomous artistic thinking. New media like film and installation played a major role.
Initially, Gecser worked with traditional tapestry. She also used knotted macramé techniques. Sisal was her favorite material. She was influenced by folk art and pre-Columbian art.
In 1976, she won First Prize at the 4th Wall and Spatial Textile Biennial of Szombathely. Her winning work was entitled Bridges. This was one of the first examples of Hungarian spatial textile art. Three-dimensional textile art appeared in her commissioned works too. Examples include her piece for the Baikal Restaurant in the former House of Soviet Culture. She also created textile art furnishings for the Cocktail Bar in Petőfi Street.
Her experiments with plaster-stiffened fibers and synthetic resin led to exploring synthetic materials. The Zwinger in Kőszeg hosted her solo exhibition in 1978. From then on, she used foils, cellophane, and transparent materials. She also used sateen and silver spray paint. These material experiments invoked the Bauhaus workshop practices.
In 1979, she discovered the visual effect of superimposed slides of her plastic works. This led her to use film projected onto spatial structures. The Textile without Textile exhibition presented examples of this approach. She used mirrors to build a large-scale environment in Velem. It is compared to Erzsébet Schaár’s Street. In 1984, she reconstructed this work for her solo exhibition at Műcsarnok.
With film director András Szirtes, she made an experimental film. It was about her environment in Velem. The film was called Mirror Reflections. It invoked the avant-garde film art and László Moholy-Nagy’s Light Space Modulator.
Gecser also used film as a raw material for textile techniques like weaving. Initially, she created tapestries. She cut and rewove reproductions of her graphic works. Next, she used negative strips. She exposed the woven fabric with the warp strips. She experimented with photo-weaving. She also explored photography and celluloid strips in weaving.
In 1983, she returned to traditional textile materials. She shaped them sculpturally. She processed them through pop and concept art filters. These drapery studies resembled shells of the human body.
Gecser exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. She participated in defining exhibitions like Photo-Textile Art? and Textile after Textile. She debuted her works in separate rooms at the Amos Anderson Museum in Helsinki. She exhibited at the Łódź textile triennial and major textile fairs.
So, as you stand before this Gecser Lujza Plaque, remember the artist’s journey. She transformed textile art and left a lasting legacy. Her innovative spirit continues to inspire.