László Fehér achieved international recognition at the 1990 Venice Biennale. Reduced to a few colours and basic elements, his paintings created at the time of political changes at the end of the 1980s return the viewer to the sombre, gloomy atmosphere of the 1950s. The overbearing historical atmosphere is softened by the sentiment of childhood nostalgia owing to the use of private family snapshots as the basis of these works. The ambivalent relationship of the grandiose architectural features and monuments – as seen from the perspective of a child – and the ephemeral human figures – often represented only by their outlines – captures the essence of the sense of those times. The artist offers his own private memories to let the viewer personally sense and experience the post-war history of Eastern Europe, with all its absurdity and irrational nature. The 1995 painting of similar title is the basis of the installation Grey House, which depicts the participants – in the usual unflattering poses of amateur photos – in front of the building that inspired the title of the painting. The banal figures of the “iron drawings” (laser-cut, flat sculptures) – the man with suspenders and wearing a beret, the woman with perm wearing a skirt – represent the generic and recognizable, typical figures of the 1950 and 60s. The overall effect recalls the unpleasant, empty, and irrational world of adults. K.Sz.