A szajkó utánzása / Jay's mimicry
Patitka, Képíró utca 6, Budapest
curated by Zsolt Miklósvölgyi
27.10.-29.11.2026
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Patika Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Hungary by Dávid Koronczi, a Slovak-Hungarian visual artist based in Lučenec. His site-specific installation offers insight into his multifaceted, cross-disciplinary artistic practice, while also extending the conceptual and formal explorations of his exhibition at VUNU Gallery in Bratislava in spring 2026.
Koronczi’s artistic practice originates in post-conceptual photography, from which a way of thinking has emerged that explores the intersections of image-making, text, and materiality. In recent years, his practice has expanded towards typographic and text-centred graphic thinking, as well as the experimental, often performative practices of Food Art and Eat Art. In his work, different media appear as interconnected modes of thinking that continuously shape one another. Objects, gestures, and experiences drawn from everyday life are thus placed in new contexts, becoming carriers of social, cultural, and ecological questions beyond the realm of personal observation.
A recurring theme in Koronczi’s work is the experience of stepping away from the bustle of metropolitan life and engaging with rural existence, adapting to local environments, and searching for alternative forms of coexistence and co-creation in an increasingly globalised world. Rural life is not presented as an idealised counterpoint to urban existence, but as a context in which everyday decisions, relationships between human and non-human beings, and practices of care come into new focus. In this sense, connecting with one’s local environment is not merely a way of life, but also a practice of attention and artistic inquiry: a recognition that the world around us is not simply a resource or a backdrop, but a complex network of relations of which we ourselves are part.
At the same time, the personal experience of fatherhood has become increasingly prominent in Koronczi’s work, alongside an exploration of the possibilities of examining and reprogramming inter- and transgenerational patterns. What do we pass on, and what do we consciously or unconsciously repeat? How do gestures, habits, and forms of behaviour become part of everyday life through learning? The artist approaches these questions not only in relation to human relationships, but also through the broader network of relations between humans and their environment.
The wall-based and spatial objects, installation situations, and video installation presented in the exhibition approach these questions from different perspectives. Rather than forming a single, closed narrative, the works create an associative space in which the relationships between materials, forms, texts, and gestures become carriers of meaning.
The exhibition’s title, *The Jay’s Imitation*, refers simultaneously to the mimetic nature of art and to the phenomenon of imitation found in nature. The jay’s ability to mimic sounds evokes questions of acquisition and transformation, while allowing imitation to be understood not as mere copying, but as a fundamental form of learning and connection. Dávid Koronczi’s works invite us to recognise that we do not simply adopt patterns, but also establish relationships: we observe, adapt, experiment, and in the process shape what we pass on.
Production assistant: Jaroslav Baláž
Photo: Tóth Dávid
