Karina Mendreczky

Karina Mendreczky (1988, Budapest) works around themes of human and social identity, which interest her both as collective and deeply personal phenomena. Her childhood memories often serve as a starting point. Her works feature recurring elements such as photo collages, etchings on Japanese paper, and delicately scratched drawings on acrylic glass. She frequently employs translucent structures that make use of the interplay of light and shadow. Kortmann-Járay and Mendreczky have been working closely together since 2019. They create large-scale, walk-through installations using a spatial collage of various elements. Their cooperated work combines different techniques and materials to create their metaphorically feminine spaces. Both artists exhibit regularly at national and international group shows and art fairs. In 2023, they were jointly awarded the Esterházy Art Prize, a prestigious award for young artists in Hungary, with their works showcased at venues such as Q21 Salon in Vienna, Budapest Gallery, Ludwig Museum in Budapest, and MODEM in Debrecen. Since 2024, they are represented by am projects, following their highly acclaimed debut exhibition, The Long Sigh of the Frog. This year, they also presented site-specific installations in Beijing and at Arsenal Gallery in Poland.

Kortmann-Járay Katalin és Mendreczky Karina 2019 óta dolgoznak szorosan együtt. Nagy léptékű, bejárható installációkat hoznak létre, amelyek különféle elemek térbeli kollázsára épülnek. Közös munkáik különböző technikákat és anyagokat ötvöznek, hogy metaforikusan nőies tereket hozzanak létre. Mindkét művész rendszeresen állít ki hazai és nemzetközi csoportos kiállításokon és művészeti vásárokon. 2023-ban közösen nyerték el az Esterházy Művészeti Díjat, amely Magyarország egyik rangos, fiatal művészeknek szóló elismerése. Műveik olyan helyszíneken kerültek bemutatásra, mint a bécsi Q21 Salon, a Budapest Galéria, a budapesti Ludwig Múzeum és a debreceni MODEM. 2024 óta az am projects képviseli őket, nagy sikerű debütáló kiállításuk, The Long Sigh of the Frog után. Ebben az évben helyspecifikus installációkat mutattak be Pekingben és a lengyelországi Arsenal Galleryben is.

Artworks
Karina Mendreczky

1988, Budapest
lives and works in Budapest

Education

2009–2015
Universität für angewandte Kunst, Bildende und Mediale Kunst, Grafik und Druckgrafik (Prof. Jan Svenungsson), Vienna, AT

2014–2015
University of the Arts London, Printmaking and Time-based Media, London, UK

Selected Exhibitions with Katalin Kortmann-Járay

2025

Mingle and Fusecurated by Petra Houskova and Krisztian Gábor Török, Sopa Gallery, Kosice, SL

2024

 The Long Sigh of the Frogcurated by Tímea Fülöp, amprojects by Molnár Ani Gallery, Budapest, HU

2023
Breaking the Frame: Making Future, Esterházy Art Award Exhibition, curator: Vitus Weh, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary

Oasis, Duo exhibition with Katalin Kortmann Járay, curated by Verena Kaspar-Eisert, Q21 Salon, Vienna, AT

2022
Buzz, Studio Gallery/SYAA, Budapest, HU
People Look Like Flowers at Last, Parallel Vienna 2022, Vienna, AT

Selected Group Exhibitions, Biennials

2025

Dark Science: Telepathy in the Shadow, curated by Iris Long, HERmit Space, MAHA Beijing, Beijing China

Kukania, curated by Katarzyna Różniak, Arsenal Gallery, Białystok, Poland

Constellations: Contemporary Positions from Hungary, curated by Róna Kopeczky, Paris B Gallery, Paris, FR

Touch Nature, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, AT

2024

Of Sprites and Spells, Pikszis Kultúr, Budapest, HU

Parallel Editions, a Druckwerk Wiennel, Rudolf Leeb Galéria, Bécs, AT

Learning from Nature? – Botany, curators: Krisztián Gábor Török, Szabolcs Süli-Zakar, Dorottya Vékony, Attila Horányi, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary.

Villa dei Misteri, curator: Lili Rebeka Tóth, Etyeki Borkúria, Etyek, Hungary.

To the Bottom of the Goblet, Aqb Project Space, curator: Jan Gajdušek (MeetFactory), Budapest, Hungary.

UNPETRIFIED, curator: Lucia Gregorová Stach, Tomas Umrian Contemporary, Bratislava, SO

MALEFICAE, curators: Dalma Eszter Kollár, Júlia Hermann, Flóra Gadó, Budapest Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

Breaking the Frame, Esterházy Art Award Exhibition, curator: Katharina Hoffmann, Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria

Step by Step, curator: Daniel Hüttler, FKSE, Budapest, HU

6 qm, curator: Oláh Orsolya, Kollab by, Budapest, HU

Handle with Care, curator: Popovics Viktória-Museum Ludwig, Liszt Institute, Brussel, BE

Crevasse, Outdoor Exhibition by Project 833, curated by Tímea Fülöp, Boszorkánysziget, Szeged, HU

2023 
Verwobene Texturen. Zeitgenössische Textilkunst aus Deutschland und Ungarn, CHB, Berlin, DE

Parallel Edition, Gallery Rudolf Leeb, Neuer Wiener Kunstverein, Vienna, AT

Transitional objects, transitional landscapes, curated by Ajna Maj, Deák Erika Gallery, Budapest, HU

2022 
Grafik Art Biennial of Szeklerland 2022, RO 

Body and Nature, Showroom 05, Vienna, AT

Dear Martha turn around, közös kiállítás Emma Klinggel, NEW NOW Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, DE

Ünnep, Studio Gallery/SYAA, Budapest, HU

Parallel Edition, Gallery Rudolf Leeb, Sempere Depot, Vienna, AT

Auf der Suche nach einem kulturellen Attraktor, Mauve, Vienna, AT

2021
A Better Time, They Say, 1111 Gallery, Budapest, HU

A Whale of a Bad Time/Spinning the Sticky Threads of Childhood Memories: From Cold War to Anthropoce konferencia, Gábor Sillye Cultur House, Hajdúböszörmény, HU

Fair For Art Vienna 2021, Galerie Rudolf Leeb, Vienna, AT

Walter Koschatzky Preis 21 (jelölve), Vienna, AT

Permanent residual, kurálta: Maj Ajna, SYAA, Budapest, HU

2020
Bea, Eva, Magda, önálló kiállítás, Galerie Rudolf Leeb, Vienna, AT

A Whale of a Bad Time, curated by Zsófi Kókai, ISBN Books and Gallery, Budapest, HU

Stand by, Galerie Rudolf Leeb, Vienna, AT

2019 
Vienna Art Book Fair #1 with Druckwerk Wien, Vienna, AT

Awakening / Soft tools for self-expression and social disobedience, kurálta: Patrycja Rup (PL), FERi Gallery, Budapest, HU

FEMALE – lebt und arbeitet in Wien, kurálta: Veronika Rudorfer, Galerie Rudolf Leeb, Vienna, AT

Marianne emlékkönyvébe, kurálta: Istvánkó Bea, PINCE, Budapest, HU

Díjak

2023 
Esterházy Art Award, Kortmann-Járay Katalinnal, Budapest, HU

2021 
Walter Koschatzky Preis 21 (jelölve), Vienna, AT

2015 
Preis der Kunsthalle Wien, AT

2015 
Nature Reloaded – New view on nature, Österreich Werbung, 3. Preis, AT

Memberships

2022 
Studio Gallery/SYAA, Budapest, HU 

2020
Bildrecht, Vienna, AT