Through a syncretic mix of the vernacular and the exotic, Csató invites viewers into a world of personal mythologies, where universal symbolism emerges from the interplay of dream and form.
József Csató (b. 1980, Mezőkövesd, Hungary) is a painter whose work breaks from both the traditions of narrative painting and prevailing currents in contemporary figurative art. Developing a distinct visual vocabulary, Csató fuses natural motifs, dreamlike figures, geometric structures, and invented symbols into compositions that hover between abstraction and figuration. His paintings, often rendered on monochromatic, perspective-free backgrounds, are characterized by faded tones, marbled textures, and cross-hatched details, lending his imagery a semi-abstract and timeless quality.
Drawing on a syncretism of influences, Csató’s art blends the vernacular with the exotic, creating poetic spaces where viewers encounter personal stories refracted through universal symbolism. Mythological forms coexist with purely fictitious emblems, leading the spectator through imaginary landscapes that feel at once familiar and otherworldly.
Csató studied at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest, graduating in 2006 in the class of Dóra Maurer, and also attended the University of Fine Arts in Nürnberg, Germany. He has received several prestigious grants, including the Esterhazy Prize in 2013 and the Gyula Derkovits Scholarship in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In 2017, he was an artist-in-residence at Galerie Krinzinger in Austria through its AIR program.
His work has been exhibited extensively, with solo and group presentations in Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Nürnberg, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Hong Kong, and New York, including shows at Sean Horton (Presents), Galerie Krinzinger, Deák Erika Gallery, Plus One Gallery, Galleri Urbane, and Double Q Gallery. Csató’s paintings are held in numerous public and private collections, including the Ludwig Museum in Budapest. He lives and works in Budapest, Hungary.