BUDAPEST, Hungary — May 27, 2026 From May 28 to August 30, 2026, the internationally renowned Mercedes-Benz Art Collection will be exhibited in Budapest for the first time. Titled POWER LINES, the exhibition will take over the two-story Merlin Cultural Square in the heart of downtown Budapest, connecting global industrial themes with contemporary artistic perspectives from Hungary and the Central and Eastern European region.
Curated by Krisztián Gábor Török in cooperation with project management partner Art is Business, the exhibition features works by over 30 prominent international and local artists, including John M. Armleder, Sylvie Fleury, David Hockney, Katalin Kortmann–Járay & Karina Mendreczky, Robert Longo, Ilona Németh, and Rita Süveges.
“With POWER LINES we bring works from the Mercedes‑Benz Art Collection into a multi-layered dialogue with local artistic positions,” said Dr. Anne Vieth, Head of the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection & Corporate Art Department. “The exhibition highlights how industrialization influences us till the present — and how these interconnections are reflected within the collection and expanded through new perspectives.”
Industry, Energy, and Mobility: The Five Curatorial Themes
Housed appropriately in a former electrical transformer station, the exhibition utilizes its venue’s industrial history to explore the complex infrastructures that define modern life. Over 30 participating artists trace how materials, energy, labor, and goods flow across borders, examining the impacts of industrial corridors on both individual and collective realities.
Rather than a traditional room-by-room chronology, the exhibition moves fluidly across five overlapping thematic axes:
- Machine, Still Running: Exploration of industrial machinery and mechanical fascination. Highlights include Randomroutines’ Luddite Automaton (2014–2024)—a wind-turbine-powered steel sculpture depicting the machine’s own destruction—alongside automotive-focused works by Benedikt Partenheimer and David Hockney.
- Borders That Factories Drew: A critical look at administrative standardization and the human cost of labor. Sung Tieu’s The Ruling (2024) features hundreds of wooden rulers contrasting pre-colonial units with French colonial metrics, while Doruntina Kastrati documents the physical toll on factory workers.
- The Promise of Form: An examination of modernism’s structural ambiguities, juxtaposing Oskar Schlemmer’s rationalized, utopian geometry in Relief H (1919/1959) against Monika Sosnowska’s buckled, pressurized steel fences.
- Who Pays for the Light: A deep dive into the hidden systems of the energy market. Paul Kolling’s Energy (2023) brings an architectural replica of an industrial energy building into the old transformer station, paired with Agnieszka Polska’s video installation The Thousand-Year Plan (2021).
- After Industry: A reflection on ecological and geological legacies. Rita Süveges’ paintings track petrochemical realities from oil spills to Martian resource extraction, leading to Noémie Goudal’s film Inhale, Exhale (2021), which frames industrial modernity as a brief, temporary era in the Earth’s multi-millennial history.
Part of the “140 Years of Innovation” Anniversary
The exhibition is launched under the umbrella of the Mercedes-Benz Studio Budapest series, an immersive platform created by Mercedes-Benz Hungária Kft. This platform coincides with the global “140 Years of Innovation” initiative, celebrating the heritage of the automobile since Carl Benz’s 1886 patent.
As part of the broader global celebration running through October, Mercedes-Benz is driving three new S-Class saloons on a trans-continental journey to 140 locations across six continents, highlighting the brand’s engineering journey from early internal combustion to modern electric vehicles like the all-new CLA and GLC.
Exhibition & Visitor Information
- Venue: Merlin Theater (1052 Budapest, Gerlóczy utca 4. – Entrance from City Hall Park)
- Dates: May 28 – August 30, 2026
- Opening Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM (CEST)
- Admission: Free
The exhibition features a dynamic public program, including guided tours, educational initiatives, university collaborations, and special events organized with artists from the Örkény Theatre. For full scheduling details, visit the Mercedes-Benz Studio Budapest website.
Media Contacts
Mihály Ferencsik
Mercedes-Benz Hungária Kft.
Phone: +36 70 475 5079
Email: [email protected]
Silke Mockert
Mercedes-Benz Corporate Art Department
Phone: +49 160 86 80 502
Email: [email protected]
About the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection
Founded in 1977, the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection is one of Europe’s premier corporate art collections, comprising approximately 3,000 museum-quality works by more than 800 artists. The collection focuses on abstract-constructive concepts, critically engaged art, and commissioned works reflecting on design and automobility. More information is available at mercedes-benz.art.
