Over the past years, the international art trade has completely been transformed. Contemporary art has gained ground, and the contemporary auction turnover of Christie's and Sotheby's, the two major auction houses, has increased threefold over the last two years, which is indicative of a change to the prices in the first place. It was for the first time that Christie's and Sotheby's, the two leading auction houses, made an appearance at TEFAF, the most noted worldwide art fair, in Maastricht, in the Netherlands, although they did so with names different from their own and contrary to opposition from art dealers. The works of art by outstanding 20th-century modern artists sell at astronomical sums. Accordingly, nearly ten works of art have been entered into the list of works sold at over one hundred million US dollars.

Street art is insolent. For one thing, because it is in most cases illegal and sometimes also vulgar or provocative. Secondly, even if we manage to link a creation to a particular artist, the identity of the "culprit" still remains hidden.
All of the artists exhibiting at kArton are arbitrary street "decorators" representing various forms of street art. The traditional line of graffiti is embodied by Nikon: the gigantic vibrantly coloured letters advertise the name and boldness of their maker. Miztahbush's letter compositions, with time, abstract into meandering ornaments. It is from these bush-like images that the artist got his stage name. Aside form advertisements and other publications, Drez's graphic design work is also known from fictive street logos.
The 1000% group is now represented by Torzmerev and Cut16. Thanks in part to their activities, the (physical) boundary separating the walls and the artwork has been erased in art institutions. The walls of the exhibition space not only provide a homogeneous background for the framed, strictly separated pieces, but have also become actual carriers of the artwork.
This is the first time, by the invitation of the kArton gallery, that the French Jace, one of the best known figures in international street art, has visited Budapest. Although his little figure, Gouzou, doesn't have a face, through his expressive movements and the symbols painted around him, the scenes, which are placed into funny contexts, quickly become intelligible to everyone.

This restaurant & bar in the cozy cellar with authentic British pub furniture and decorations is a perfect place to relax and recharge your batteries. Attentive English-speaking staff and good music. Meat dishes are very good here, and the portions are impressive. The average price for dinner with drinks is 2000-3000 HUF per person. Recently opened ground floor addition to the pub offers daily menu of 3-4 courses.

We would fare better if we had one hundred galleries, one thousand good artists, and at least one world-famous star. We would also fare better if Saatchi took us under their wings and if we were part of the mainstream worldwide. We would prosper if there were some Hungarian works of art included in the world's leading private and public contemporary collections, and if some of our museums were not operating as post-socialist, state-run megacompanies.
Finally, we would fare better if no noble initiative was lost within the labyrinth of bureaucracy. However, until these wishes come true, we have a new, contemporary museum with some state-of-the-art exhibition halls by international standards, the renovated and progressive Art Gallery (Mucsarnok). We also have a number of broad-minded and professional curators, new museum managers who are capable of slackening up the current stiff structures as well as some contemporary galleries of a commercial nature that engage in international art fairs on a regular basis. Furthermore, we have a successful artwork market, our upgraded classical and modern painting, as well as our two-year-old Plug which is greater and of higher quality this year than it was last year. Our own Plug, a promising fair, nothing small or insignificant, gives us yet another chance. Therefore, let us allow our Plug to improve. Let us also support and love it. Last but not least, let us regard contemporary art in a way that is commensurate with its importance.

The primary profile of kArton Gallery is the popularisation of comics and caricatures. Within the framework of the talent program launched last year, the Gallery offers young artists an opportunity to introduce their work. During the couple days these exhibitions are open, visitors can familiarise themselves with the works of beginning exhibitors and artistic trends, which are rarely represented in Hungary's exhibition spaces.
The show affords its viewers a glimpse at pieces by Blik, Drez and Nikon, activists of Hungarian street art. The aim of the exhibition is to draw attention to this "wildling" of contemporary art, whose thematic, motifs and technical solutions provide the basis for the fusion of the pieces by these three artists.
Street art is a collective noun that comprises, in addition to graffiti, visual products found in public places, which got there through illegal means. This includes stickers, posters and stencilled spray paint images. Passers-by who notice these small or large images (and don't merely chalk them up to vandalism) are made to wonder who put them there and for what purpose. Often they arrive at the conclusion that, surely, these, too, must be but advertisements for some new product. They are not far from reality, as street art is partly self-advertisement by the artists, in that they promote their names or tags and - through its execution - also flaunt their creativity and professional skills. On the other hand, it is an alteration of the environment, as the surroundings are changed in an autocratic manner, and also communication, established between street artists who reflect on each other's works. But, at the end of the day, the removal of the works by street passivists (us, city dwellers) is also a form of communication, and so is the reappearance of the next piece on the following day declaring: 'we are here and we can do to the street image, whatever we want.' Their sin is no greater than the transgression of those who have turned every nook and cranny of our living environment into advertisement surfaces, or those who are allowing our historic monuments to go to waste.
Blik and Nikon made their first graffiti in 1995, after watching the American documentary Style Wars on the graffiti culture of New York City, which was run on Hungarian television on more than one occasion. Nikon remains an active graffiti artist to this day. Blik and Drez have taken their profession, graphic design (corporate image design), to the streets, creating logos for fictive or existing brand names. Just like the graffiti artist who gets bored with his letters and changes his signature, for them, the designing of the letters of a new logo provides a challenge. It was through this activity that they joined the Hungarian street art movement, which started around 2000 by the operation of the 1000% group.
The exhibition is an attempt for adapting a genre that is considered a subculture, to the walls of a gallery. The images, which were made with spray paint, stencils, sticker collages, plotters or are by digital print address the theme of the street art way of life. We are once again greeted by specific motifs already familiar to us from the public spaces of Budapest, such as Drez's logos, Blik's distinctive cartoon character and Nikon's tags.

A good mix of locals and expats can be found at Castro any given night of the week. The popular Cuban-themed bar, with movie posters and artwork dotting the walls, tends to get extremely smoky, but is well-positioned along R‡day utca. Castro also serves heavy, grease-laden Serbian food. Internet access is available on several computer terminals in the back, and you'll find outdoor seating along the street in warmer months.

The Tuzrakter Independent Cultural Centre, which is backed up by the Art Sector Foundation, had opened its doors on the 23rd of June in 2005, in a previously abandoned 10000 square meters factory building in Budapest's Tuzolto street.
As an opened cultural space, we organized programmes day by day in summer periods, that included a very wide spectrum of fine and performed arts. We also work as a creative centre by giving the opportunities to as many creative projects as we can. Musicians, theatre companies can use spaces for practising, artists can create studios in our building.

Dinamo is an autonomous, non-profit artist-run-space, that functions on the bases of organic 'self organization'. It is a space for work, presentation, experiments in the field of art, culture and communication, outside the established realm of art practice.