The COLUMBO EFFECT exhibition is a shared intellectual space of three artists: a master and two former students. Ernő Tolvaly, a defining instructor and painter at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs, and two of his former students, Diána Bóbics and Rita Varga, now reflect on each other within the framework of an exhibition — in perspective, form, and painterly memory. The exhibition is also a tribute to Ernő Tolvaly, who passed away in 2008 but remains a source of inspiration for his students to this day.

The title refers to an old inside joke: Lieutenant Columbo, in a contemporary gallery from the seventies, points at an air vent and asks thoughtfully: is this also a work of art? This ironic scene resurfaced repeatedly over the years between master and students—and today it may offer a key to interpreting this exhibition as well: where does the artwork begin, and how far does the viewing extend?