The world of the 21st century forms a paradox: all emphasis is on the individual and his personal growth but at the same time globalisation and the economical developments fraught with catastrophes decisively sap the sensitivity for the social and the fellowship of men. The ties of mutual solidarity and humaneness that once were the very essence of ‘society’, meaning ‘living together’, disappear. Again the rule of the strongest holds sway. Whoever is incapable of keeping up the pace is ground to dust between the wheels and considered to be ‘collateral damage.’

The Dutch painter/poet Lucebert, however, once wrote: “All that is of value is unable to defend itself.” Mari Mészàros reminds us of this saying. She points to the fact that our indifference towards the suppressed en subjugated that are imprisoned because of their opinion, kidnapped as child-soldiers or exploited by ruthless multinationals, hollows out the very core of our being and robs us of the most valuable of all things: our humanity. Her artworks are a reminder and at the same time an appeal. In this way she not only gives a visible shape to Lucebert’s thought but at the same time appropriates the words of the poet Dylan Thomas who spoke: “rage, rage, against the dying of the light.”