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József Csató: TREASURES, TREES, FIRE and BONES

17 June 2022 - 16 July 2022

Free

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Double Q Gallery is pleased to present TREASURES, TREES, FIRE and BONES by József Csató, the Hungarian artist’s first solo show in Asia, featuring a new body of work completed in Csató’s quirky style that unites multiple painting genres. Using minimal and witty language, the artist showcases a series of “Wunderkammers” containing daily objects that annotate people’s sufferings, anxieties and everyday feelings. TREASURES, TREES, FIRE and BONES opens on 17 June and runs through 16 July.

Drawing inspiration from the long history of European paintings and many of its traditional classifications such as still life, landscape and portraits, Csató’s treasure chests-like canvases construct surrealist scenes that explore the potential of nature-inspired forms and motifs. Strange fragments resembling plants, anthropomorphic hybrid figures, alongside geometrics reminiscent of pipes, drops, pots and freely invented “signs” emerge from the surfaces of his sensual paintings, bursting with colours. For Csató, these objects are the encyclopedic collection motivated by a desire for scientific and philosophical knowledge, research and hoarding.

Carrying both contemporary and Neo-primitivism traits, Csató’s canvases are characterised by an archaic, brutal and expressive language, leading to the image spaces oscillating between drawing and painting. The surface of layered paint and their frottage-like reverse open the space to an enigmatic dimension – traces from the artist’s studio live on and are visualized within each painting, as the studio wall’s texture is captured and imprinted on the canvas.

In the visual world characterised by humour and playfulness, Csató combines the simplicity of form with various references in art history, such as pop cultural icons, surrealism, and figurative and abstract elements. The Wunderkammer-like compositions often feature totemic figures and hybrids reminiscent of ancient, prehistoric cultures and civilisations. In the exhibition, snapshot-like glimpses of the referenced genres and prototypes are presented, encouraging viewers’ curious eyes to linger, discover and examine the hidden art historical references. By playing with forms, and merging them into each other, the vivid intersecting, embracing movement leads both Csató’s and the viewer’s eye from one motif to the next, from one image to the next.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

József Csató (b. 1980) lives and works in Budapest, Hungary. He completed his study in the painting department of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in the class of Dóra Maurer in 2006. A three-time recipient of the Gyula Derkovits Scholarship, he is also the winner of the Esterházy Art Award in 2013, a national award for Hungarian artists. Csató also completed an artist residency at Krinzinger Gallery - AIR program in 2017. He has held many solo exhibitions internationally, PLUS-ONE Gallery, Belgium including Crickets in the Carpet (2022); USA (2021). His works can be found in many private and institutional collections, including Ludwig Museum, Hungarian National Bank and Beth Rudin DeWoody.

Details

Start:
17 June 2022
End:
16 July 2022
Admission:
Free
Event Category:

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