Hungarian sculptor, is a prominent figure of the Hungarian avant-garde. After finishing his studies at the academy of Fine Arts he soon becomes member of the so called Iparterv group ( a group of dissident artists named after the exhibition place). He travels and exhibits extensively in Europe however when he receives the DAAD Scholarship to Berlin he gets his passport and permission to leave Hungary only after two years obstructions. He stays in West-Berlin for four years from 1980. In 1983 he returns to Hungary but keeps visiting Berlin from time to time for various exhibition and teaching projects.
He becomes a Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts soon after the political changes in 1990.
He exhibited all over Europe, represented Hungary at the Venice Biennial in 1995 and also had shows in Seoul, South Korea, Israel and in the USA.
Jovánovics had numerous commissions for political monuments and external decorations after the political changes and finished his large-scale outdoor sculpture for a public space in 2009, the construction in front of a campus is made of steel and is 33 meter high.
EXHIBITIONS
BIOGRAPHY
EDUCATION
1958 – 1960
Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, major in sculpture
1964 – 1965
Studied at Akademie für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna
1965 – 1966
Studied at Academie des Beaux Arts, Paris
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
The Pattern: The Original MÜPA Reliefs, FUGA Budapest Center of Architecture, Budapest
2018
Best Work of My Life, Quadro 21 Gallery, Cluj-Napoca
2016
Vaszary Gallery, Balatonfüred
The Relief, from White to Black, Mayor Gallery, London
2009
Sassetta – Jovánovics, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Southern France Landscape 1965-66, Kisterem, Budapest
2008
Photographic works between 1970 and 1978 – “...reflaction of reality on reality”, Kisterem, Budapest
2002
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
2000
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Dovin Galéria, Budapest
Mai Manó Ház, Budapest
Fészek Galéria, Budapest
1999
Hallein
1988
Galeria u Jezuitów, Poznan
1996
Galerie Gaudens Pedit, Lienz
Kiscelli Múzeum, Budapest
Szent István Király Múzeum, Csók Képtár, Székesfehérvár
Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna
Hungarian Academy, Rome
1995
XLVI. Venice Biennial, Hungarian Pavilion
1994
Fészek Galéria, Budapest
Galerie Hartmann und Noé, Berlin
1991
Galerie Hartmann und Noé, Berlin
1990
Galerie der Stadt Fellbach
1989
Kiscelli Múzeum, Budapest
Óbudai Művelődési Központ, Budapest
1986
Galerie Zellermayer-Lorenzen, WestBerlin
1985
István Király Múzeum, Székesfehérvár
Józsefvárosi Galéria, Budapest
1983
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, West-Berlin
1982
Galerie für Kunst Architekture, Hamburg
Galerie Holtmann, Hannover
Galerie Zellermayer-Lorenzen, West-Berlin
1981
Galerie Zellermayer-Lorenzen, West-Berlin
1980
Institut Français, Budapest
1977
Fiatal Művészek Klubja, Budapest
1971
Museum Folkwang (with Imre Bak), Essen
1970
Fényes Adolf Terem (with István Nádler), Budapest
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Iparterv 50+, Ludwig Museum, Budapest
2018
The Hungarian Avant-garde. Third Generation, Tajan Artstudio, Paris
1971 – Parallel Nonsynchronism, Kiscell Museum, Budapest
BOOKMARKS – Revisiting Hungarian Art of the 1960s and 1970s, The Vinyl Factory, London
Form Creation Strategies, Labor, Budapest
2017
With the Eyes of Other, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York
Abstract Hungary, Künstlerhaus – Halle für Kunst und Medien, Graz
2015
Last Years’ Snow: The Hungarian Neo-Avant-Garde in the 1970s and 80s, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London
Siliconvalse. The Hungarian Reality, Brno House of Arts, Brno
BOOKMARKS – Hungarian Neo-Avant-Garde and Post-Conceptual Art from the Late 1960s to the Present, Art Cologne; Off Biennálé Budapest, Meo, Budapest
2013
BOOKMARKS – Hungarian Neo-Avant-Garde and Post-Conceptual Art from the Late 1960s to the Present, Budapest
2002
Situation Ungarn. Kunst vor und nach der Wende, Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin
Vision. Kunsthalle, Budapest
2000
Aspekte. Positionen 50 Jahre Kunst aus Mitteleuropa. Palais Lichtensetein – 20er Haus, bécs – Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest
Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Ungarn. Galerie der Stadt Fellbach
Samizdat. Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Vízivárosi Galéria, Budapest
Artist Collection. Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana
1999
Kunst der neuziger Jahre in Ungarn. Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Ungarn 2000. Ausstellungszentrum, München
MOST Zeitgenössische Kunst Ungarn. Museum Bochum
Perspective, Kunsthalle, Budapest
Kunstgang Ungarn. Karmelitenkloster, Frankfurt
1998
Sensitivities. The European Academy for the Arts, London
Contemporary Hungarian Art, Zahenta, Warsaw
Ungarn. Avantgarde im 20. Jahrhundert, Neue galerie der Stadt Linz
1997
Sept sculpteurs Hongrois contemporains, Biron Kastély, Dordogne
1996
Abstrakt/Real. Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna
1994
The eighties – art, Ernst Múzeum, Budapest
1993
‘We, East-French – Hungarian art in the 20th century, Csók István Képtár, Székesfehérvár
Hungary before and after. The International Monetary Fund Visitors’ Center, Washington DC – Fővárosi Képtár, Budapest
1992
Variations of Pop Art, Ernst Múzeum, Budapest
1991
The sixties, Hungarian National Galerie, Budapest
1989
The end of avant-garde – Hungarian art in the 20th century, Csók István Képtár, Székesfehérvár
Meisterwerke der ungarischen Moderne, Hauptstadtische Gemaldgalerie, Schloss Plankenwarth bei Graz
1988
Zeitgenössische Bildende Kunst aus Ungarn. Galerie der Künstler, München
Aktuelle ungarische Kleinplastik, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte der Stadt Dortmund
VII. International Statuette Exhibition, Kunsthalle, Budapest
1987
Régi és új avantgárd (A XX. század magyar művészete 12.), Csók István Képtár, Székesfehérvár
Kortárs magyar művészet, Kunsthalle, Budapest
Mágikus művek, Budapest Galéria, Budapest
1986
Eklektika ’85. Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest
3. Triennale Fellbach Kleinplastik, Schwabenlandhalle, Fellbach
1985
Contermporary Visual Arts in Hungary. Third Eye Centre, Glasgow
Drei Generationen der Ungarischer Künstler, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum, Graz
1984
Deutscher Künstlerbund, 32. Jahresaustellung, Frankfurt
La Esposizione Internazionale della Piccola Scultura, Castellana
1983
FBK, Berlin
1981
Erweitere Fotographie, Vienna
1980
IPARTERV 1968-80, Budapest
Egyéni utak. Óbudai Galéria, Budapest
Künstler aus Ungarn, Kunsthalle, Wilhelmshaven
1979
Fotogramm. Budapest Galéria, Budapest
1977
Osteuropeese Konceptuelle Fotografie, Eidhoven
1976
Sorozatművek, Csók István Képtár, Székesfehérvár
Expozíció, Hatvay Lajos Múzeum, Hatvan
1974
CAYC, Buenos Aires
1973
Biennale de la Jeunesse, Paris
1972
Galeria Folsal, Warsaw
1969
IPARTERV II., Budapest
R-csoport (R-group), Műszaki Egyetem, Budapest
1968
IPARTERV I., Budapest
1967
Fiatal Művészek Klubja, Budapest
WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Tate Modern, London
Ludwig Museum, Budapest
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Deutsche Bank, Berlin
Deutsche Volksbank, Berlin
Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Ludwig Museum, Vienna