The age of technology has become part of our everyday lives. It shapes our spaces, our thinking, even our perception. For many, the digital world appears as a cold, artificial, and soulless realm. But is that really the case? Could cyberspace also possess its own naturalness, its own nature? This is the question at the heart of István Dukai’s new exhibition, The Nature of Cyberspace, which opened in the autumn of 2025 as part of the joint Art Corner series of Hotel Clark Budapest and Leo Bistro. The exhibition, realized in collaboration with the Heart and Cherry Gallery, can be visited until early December at the foot of the Chain Bridge.
István Dukai is a Budapest-based graphic and visual artist whose works evoke the traditions of constructivism, minimal art, op art, and the Bauhaus. Behind the discipline of form lies a profound sensitivity and deep respect for materials. His art is guided by a reductionist approach where every line, curve, and colour has its own place and purpose.
The artist does not work with traditional painterly tools. He does not paint with a brush but rather explores and experiments with materials and their histories. Among his chosen media are fabrics and textiles from rural culture, corroded metal plates, and forgotten cloths. Dukai prepares his canvases himself, using coffee, blackthorn, elderberry, and black tea, giving the surfaces the imprint of nature itself. Upon these tactile grounds, he applies precisely structured forms and rhythms that bring the static surface to life like gentle vibrations.
The result is a unique hybrid, at once painting, relief, and sculpture. Behind the strict structures, one senses time, transience, and the fragile beauty of nature. Dukai’s art thus goes beyond the visual, inviting a philosophical and aesthetic dialogue between man and matter, past and present, tangible and digital.
‘Behind the strict structures, one senses time, transience, and the fragile beauty of nature’
At the centre of the exhibition lies the question of what happens if cyberspace is not artificial but organic. Dukai’s works encourage the viewer to rethink the role of modern technology. His geometric compositions are not cold mechanical simulations but living, breathing structures. The touch of the human hand and the logic of technology intertwine so that the digital realm becomes a metaphor for a new kind of nature.
These works create a delicate balance between artificial and natural, analogue and digital, human and mechanical. The visual poetry lies precisely in how these opposites complement rather than negate one another. The pieces draw the viewer in, offering not just an image but an experience. One perceives both order and vitality, structure and movement.
Art Corner: Where Culture and Gastronomy Meet
Hotel Clark Budapest and Leo Bistro launched their Art Corner series in 2021, and it has since become a distinctive feature of the city’s cultural life. The initiative aims to create a natural unity between contemporary art and gastronomy, allowing visitors to enjoy both fine dining and a visual adventure.
The elegant setting, the view of the Danube, and the carefully selected artworks together create a unique atmosphere where visitors become part of more than an exhibition; they become part of an experience of life. Situated in the heart of the city, Art Corner invites guests not only to consume but to linger in body and in thought.
The current project is a worthy continuation of this initiative. The exhibition is not loud or provocative but contemplative and refined, a quiet mirror of modern humanity. István Dukai’s works remind us that even in the age of technology, it is possible to preserve a sense of proportion, respect for materials, and faith in the logic of nature.
A reminder that modernity does not necessarily mean the loss of nature. Cyberspace, too, can be human if we can perceive within it the rhythm of life. The Nature of Cyberspace is not only an artistic experience but also a meditation on how we may remain human amid the current of the digital age.
Art Corner: The Nature of Cyberspace
Venue: Hotel Clark and Leo Bistro, 1 Clark Ádám Square, Budapest 1013
Dates: October 2 to December 5, 2025
Organizers: Heart and Cherry Gallery
Supporters: Sauska, Audi Hungary
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