György Kepes (1906–2001) was a pioneering artist, educator, and theorist whose interdisciplinary vision bridged art, science, and technology. Born in Selyp, Hungary, Kepes studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, where he was influenced by Hungarian modernists and the radical avant-garde movements of the 1920s. Drawn to new forms of visual expression, he turned to filmmaking, graphic design, and photography, eventually collaborating with fellow Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy in Berlin and London.

Kepes immigrated to the United States in 1937, where he became a foundational figure at the New Bauhaus in Chicago (later the Institute of Design at IIT). There, he developed groundbreaking courses in light, color, and visual communication, emphasizing the integration of art and technology. His 1944 book Language of Vision became a seminal text in modern design education, articulating a visual literacy grounded in perception, structure, and the universal power of imagery.

In 1947, Kepes was invited to join the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he founded the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) in 1967. The center became an influential platform for interdisciplinary collaboration among artists, scientists, and engineers. Under his leadership, CAVS supported innovative projects involving kinetic art, light, environmental design, and early computer graphics, positioning Kepes at the forefront of what he called a “new civic art.”

Kepes believed that both artists and scientists were image-makers, sharing a responsibility to interpret and shape human experience. His exhibitions and writings, including The New Landscape in Art and Science (1956), revealed striking visual parallels between scientific imagery and modern art, advocating for a symbiosis that could address the spiritual and ecological crises of the modern world. Kepes championed a socially engaged practice, arguing that art should help restore harmony between humans and their environment.

As an artist, Kepes created lyrical abstract paintings and photograms that explored light, structure, and organic form. His work is held in major public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 1973, he was elected to the National Academy of Design, and in 1978 he became a full Academician.

A visionary thinker and tireless advocate for collaboration across disciplines, Kepes remains one of the most influential figures in 20th-century art and design. Through his teaching, writing, and artistic practice, he left a legacy that continues to inspire new approaches to visual culture in the age of technology.

Education

• Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, 1924–1928

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• Alpha Gallery, Boston: 1970, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2012

• Provincetown Art Association and Museum, 1991

• Clarence Kennedy Gallery, Cambridge, MA, 1989

• Vigado Galeriaban, Budapest, 1986

• Eger Museum, Hungary, 1986

• Szomnathely Muzeum, Hungary, 1986

• M.I.T. Museum, Hungary, 1986

• Saidenberg Gallery, New York: 1960, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1980

• Wichita Art Museum, 1979

• Hayden Gallery, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA (Retrospective), 1978

• Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, St. Louis, 1978

• Steinberg Gallery, Washington University, St. Louis, 1978

• Hopkins Art Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 1977

• Bauhaus für Gestaltung, Berlin, 1977

• Künstlerhaus, Vienna, 1977

• Galerie Moos, Montreal, 1968

• Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 1967

• Marion Koogler McNay Institute, San Antonio, TX, 1966

• Phoenix Art Museum, 1966

• Swetzoff Gallery, Boston, 1959–1967

• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1959

• Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, 1959

• Baltimore Museum of Art, 1959

• The New Gallery, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA, 1959

• Centro Culturale Olivetti, Ivrea, Italy, 1958

• Galleria de Via Montenapoleone, Milan, 1958

• Galleria il Numero, Florence, 1958

• Gallerie L’Obelisco, Rome, 1958

• Margaret Brown Gallery, Boston: 1951, 1953, 1957

• Emerson Museum of Art, Syracuse University, NY, 1957

• DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, 1953

• Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1952

• San Diego Fine Arts Gallery, CA, 1952

• Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH, 1951

• Art Institute of Chicago, 1944

• Katherine Kuh Gallery, Chicago, 1939

Selected Group Exhibitions

• Power of the People: Democracy and Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2024–2025

• Manna, Tufts University Art Gallery, 2014

• Luminous Forms, deCordova Museum, 2004

• György Kepes and Colleagues, Alpha Gallery, 2003

• Then and Now, Cambridge Art Association, 1994

• Light-Space-Time: CAVS/MIT - 25 Years, MIT Museum, 1994

• Creative Solutions to Ecological Issues, Dallas Museum of Natural History, 1993–1994

• Multiple Interaction, San Francisco Exploratorium, 1973

• Bienal Coltejer, Medellín, Colombia: 1970, 1972

• Hungarian Art, Indiana University Art Museum, 1972

• Electromagica, Tokyo, 1969

• Exploration, National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, DC, 1968

• Art of the U.S. Embassies, ICA Boston, 1966

• Photography in America 1850–1965, Yale University Art Gallery, 1965

• Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture, Krannert Art Museum, multiple years

• Corcoran Biennials, Washington, DC: 1963, 1965

• Whitney Annuals, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1956, 1958, 1960

• Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1960

• Abstract and Surrealist Art in the U.S., multiple institutions, 1944

• Many more national and international exhibitions from 1929–1994

Selected Collections

• Museum of Modern Art, New York

• Whitney Museum of American Art

• Art Institute of Chicago

• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

• Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC

• Smithsonian Institution

• Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University

• DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA

• Cleveland Museum of Art

• Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

• St. Louis Art Museum

• Israel Museum, Jerusalem

• Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA

• Worcester Art Museum

• San Diego Fine Arts Gallery

• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

• Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

• Bauhaus Museum, Berlin

• Kepes Museum, Budapest

• Krannert Art Gallery, University of Illinois

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

• and many others across Europe and the United States