The exhibition Invisible to the Naked Eye presents a selection of works by visual artists Philippine Schaefer, Ádám Schór, and Yorgos Yatromanolakis, inviting the visitor to question the usual framing of reality and perception. The cross-section of the three different approaches and narratives concerns perception beyond the visible pictorial world. The exhibition presents works that go beyond traditional visual experience and encourage us to explore new perspectives.

Our idea of the world, the sum total of our impressions, is primarily imprinted through our visual perception. But what do we consider real?

What we see is but one layer of reality. What happens when we let go of our preconceptions and accept that reality is much richer and more varied than that?

Our point of view is shaped by our belief. Each observer interprets the lived experience differently. All that reality which appears to be the next moment along the linear timeline is merely a projection of our previous perception, our own creation. Hence, although it is a segment of the future, it is nothing more than the present moment emerging from the conditioning of the past, which we think of as NOW in our experience at all times. What becomes possible if we accept the diversity of reality and become open to the fact that such things may also be a reality whose visual imprint takes ever so unusual forms?

Philippine Schaefer is a German-born photographer based in Paris, whose ANIMA is a series of analogue photograms, often produced by the light filtered through her own body and the imprint of the hypothetical, vivid colours emerging on the photogram. Ádám Schór’s work originates in the antagonism between nature and the digital world. His pictures represent artificial landscapes. Nature – fresh air, long hikes in the mountains, seas, and the calming sight of the sky – can offer a cure for the noise of the digital world. Yorgos Yatromanolakis’ lyrical work “The Splitting of the Chrysalis & the Slow Unfolding of the Wings” is inspired by the transition from one phase of life to another, in which he attempts poetically to capture the cycles of internal metamorphosis. His works are imprints of a dimension beyond the visible world, portals of sorts to new aspects of perception.

This exhibition is a prime event of the Budapest Photo Festival 2025. The Festival’s collaborating partner is the French Institute.

Curator: Szilvia Mucsy, photographer

On view: April 8 to May 18, 2025

(Philippine Schaefer: ANIMA (2025) details)