A 90-es évek figurális festészetének nagy áramához kapcsolódik Csató József

is festményeivel. Ugyan képei központjában mindig az ember áll, sajátos

fülledt, az egyenlítõtõl délre található egzotikus tájakról érkezõ és a

társadalomtól látszólag távol élõ figurái mellet növények, állatok és tárgyak

vagy különbözõ minták népesítik be a festmények terét. Tulajdonképpen az

ember környezetéhez való viszonya Csató képeinek központi motívuma,

éppen ezért nincs arra szüksége, hogy olyan fontos testrészeket, mint a fej és

az arc megjelenítsen. A figurák karakterét cselekvéseik, mozdulataik és az

õket körülvevõ tárgyak adják. Azt azonban már nehezebb lenne eldönteni,

hogy ezek a figurák egy urbanista festõ elvágyódásának idealizációi, avagy a

szokatlanra, a nem hétköznapi egyszerûségre éhes festõ észrevételei. Talán

mindkettõ. Akárhogy is, a karakterek rendre ismétlõdnek a hagyományos

olaj-vászon technikával készült festményeken, akik olykor telefonálás,

viráglocsolás, kertészkedés, gyümölcstál-rakodás, tehát igen hétköznapi

cselekvések közben avanzsálnak. Csató gyorsan és kényelmesen fest, meleg

színekkel, vad ecsetvonásokkal. Változó méretû színes vásznain karaktereit

egy-egy jellemzõ részlettel, olykor különbözõ mintázatokkal teszi érdekessé:

egy toll a kalapon fejdíszként, az egyszerû szabású ruha durva csíkozása, a

kabát gombjai, mind egy-egy szembeötlõ, kedves részlet a portré-zsánereken.

Paul Gauguin és Henri Matisse trópusi palettájához hasonlítják legtöbben

képeit, Csató pedig arra használja ezt a hatást, hogy megteremtse saját gazdag

világát, hogy megerõsítse saját kortárs és nagyon is mai narratíváit. Így lehet,

hogy egy törött nyakú kék elektromos gitár és tollaslabda-nyaklánc került egy

öreg indián asszony kiegészítõi közé egy 2007-es képen, de a nagyon is

európai történet, a Tell Vilmos mítosz is egy barna bõrû Csató karakterben

ölt testet újra. A mûvészettörténeti értelemben vett narratív festészettõl a

maga egyediségével és sajátos történeteivel tér el a mûvész és kiindulási

pontként egy naivabb ábrázolási módot tett sajátjává. Ez a kicsit neo-folk

irányba tartó festészeti mód, vagy nevezzük kívül álló festészetnek, nem

kapcsolódik bele egyetlen mainstream figurális festészeti áramlatba sem,

hanem követi a saját útját. Nem meglepõ tehát, ha azt mondom, ez a

koherens festészeti mód ma a legérdekesebb, legfelkapottabb és

legkülönlegesebb a figurális áramlatok között.

A 19. század végétõl a mûvészek rendszeresen visszatértek a kívülállók

mûvészetéhez – a mûvészeti oktatásban nem részesült tehetségek, az õsi

társadalmakban élõ egzotikus népek, a gyerekek, vagy az elmebetegek

ösztönös mûvészeti önkifejezési formáihoz és stílusaihoz, amelyeket

alkalmazva sikeresen beépítettek az egyetemes mûvészetbe. Ma is népszerû

ez az attitûd a festészetben – az odafordulás a különöshöz -, megfûszerezve

korunk aktualitásával: a városi létezés pillanatképeivel, és kegytárgyaival.

De egy új lehetõséget is beemelt az utóbbi idõben festészeti kísérleteibe

Csató. Háromméteres papírokra kezdett dolgozni, ami nem kis technikai

felkészültséget és koncentrációt igényel. Motívumkészletében is változás

következett be: az embert felváltották az állatok, a városi környezetet a kert. A

saját és univerzális szimbolikával megfogalmazott, fülledt egzotikummal

belengett munkák technikai megoldására a régi falfestmények stílusa

jellemzõ: direkt elrajzolások, informel háttér, kiegyensúlyozatlan arányok és

egyszerûsítés. A francia avantgard mestereinek társadalomból kivonuló és a

primitív társadalmak mûvészete felé forduló gesztusánál idõben még

távolabb kell keresnünk a forrásokat, talán egy vadászat elõtti szakrális rítus

körül. De végül is mindegy, hogy keressük-e és ha keressük merre az

elõképeket vagy referenciapontokat, hiszen ezek a munkák itt vannak, most

vannak, és mai szemmel kell néznünk õket, bármennyire is nem akaródzik.

Sárvári Zita

József Csató face parte dintre pictorii marelui val figural al anilor 9o.

De?i în centrul aten?iei tablourilor lui este omul, lîngã personajele care

provin din peisajele egzotice de la sud de ecuator ?i care se pare cã

trãiesc departe de orice societate apar plante, animale sau diferite

modele. Motivul central al tablourilor lui este rela?ia omului cu mediul

în care trãie?te, de aceea nu are nevoie sã prezinte importante pãr?i ale

corpului cum sunt capul ?i fa?a omului. Caracterul figurilor e dat de

ac?iunile, mi?cãrile ?i obiectele lor. Rãmîne mai greu de spus dacã

aceste figuri se nasc datoritã utopiei pe care o urmãre?te artistul, a

dorin?ei lui de a trãi altundeva sau reflexiile unui pictor însetat de

neobi?nuit, de simplitatea pe care n-o putem întîlni la ora? sau în

civiliza?ie. Poate sã fie vorba de ambele. Csató picteazã rapid ?i comod,

utilizînd culori ?i cu un penel sãlbatic. Pe pînzele sale cu mãrime

variatã, caracterele prezentate le face mai interesante cu cîte-un detaliu

caracteristic, cu diferite modele: o panã pe o pãlãrie, dungile dure ale

unei haine croite simplu, nasturile pe un palton sunt toate detalii pline

de farmec pe portrete. Paul Gauguin ?i Henri Matisse sunt pictorii cu

care îl aseamãnã cei mai mul?i, ?i el folose?te influen?a asta pentru a

împrospãta propria lume bogatã, propriile narative foarte

contemporane. A?a se face cã alãturi de o bãtrînã indianã apare o

chitarã albastrã cu gîtul rupt ?i o perlã din mingi de badminton pe un

tablou din 2oo7, dar chiar ?i legenda foarte europeanã a lui Wilhelm

Tell e prezentatã printr-o figurã cu pielea de culoare închisã. De pictura

narativã din punctul de vedere a istoriei artei artistul se deosebe?te prin

unicitatea lui ?i prin istoriile caracteristice ?i ca punct de pornire ?i-a

asimilat un mod de prezentare mai naiv. Stilul acesta neo-folk sau sã-l

numim picturã deta?atã nu se încadreazã în nici o direc?ie a picturii

figurale mainstream, î?i urmeazã propriul drum. Nu poate fi deci

surprinzãtor dacã spun cã modalitatea aceasta este cea mai interesantã,

mai popularã ?i mai distinctã.

De la sfîr?itul sec. al 19-lea artele s-au întors la arta care se deta?eazã –

la stilurile ?i modalitã?ile de autoexpresie instinctive a talentelor care

nu au avut parte de studii de arte frumoase, a popoarelor egzotice care

trãiesc în societã?i primitive, a copiilor sau a bolnavilor mentali.

Atitudinea asta, întoarcerea la ceea ce e diferit, e ?i astãzi foarte

popularã, condimentatã cu actualitatea epocii noastre, cu imaginile

vie?ii de la ora? ?i a obiectelor rituale a acesteia.

Dar Csató a asimilat încã o alternativã în ultima vreme. A început sã

lucreze pe hîrtii de trei metri, ceea ce pretinde o pregãtire tehnicã ?i o

concentrare pe mãsurã. Putem vedea schimbãri ?i în re?eaua sa de

motive: omul dispare ?i apar animalele, mediul urban e înlocuit cu

grãdinile. Tehnica lucrãrilor recente exprimate printr-o simbolicã

proprie ?i univerzalã care au un aer egzotic poate fi caracterizatã prin

stilul picturilor murale: desene voit excesive, fundal informel,

dispropor?ionãri ?i simpflificãri. Gestul î?i are izvoarele într-un trecut

chiar mai îngardei depãrtat decît cel al mai?trilor avangardei franceze

care au pãrãsit societatea ?i ?i-au întors privirile spre arta popoarelor

primitive, poate în jurul ritualului sacru care precede vînãtoarea. Dar e

totuna dacã cãutãm ?i unde cãutãm asemãnarea, deoarece aceste

lucrãri sunt aici ?i acum, ?i trebuie sã le privim cu ochii contemporani

fie cã vrem sau nu.

Zita Sárvári

Traduducere Demény Péter

Part of the big wave of figural painting movement of the 90s is József Csató

and his paintings. Although in the centre of his paintings there is always the

man as such,next to his figures coming from distinctly muggy and exotic

landscapes south of the Equator and living seemingly far from society there

are also plants, animals and objects or patterns filling the spaces of his

paintings. Actually, the central motif of Csató's paintings is the relationship

of man and his environment and therefore he doesn't need to visualize

important body parts like head or face. The character of the figures is given

by their actions, movements and the objects that surround them. What is

really hard to decide is that whether these paintings are the idealizations of

the an urbanist painter or the remarks of a painter hungry for the unusual

and not ordinary simplicity. Maybe it's both. Anyway, characters doing

regular everyday stuff like talking on the phone, watering flowers, gardening,

loading a fruit plate, are constantly repeating. Csató paints hastily but with

ease, using warm colors and rough brushstrokes. He makes his characters on

his different-sized and colorful canvases interesting with a some typical

details or sometimes with different markings: a feather on the hat as a

headpiece, the rough striping of a simply-cut dress, the buttons of a jacket,

they are all some nice, eye-catching details on the portrait-genres. They often

compare their paintings to the tropical palette of Paul Gauguin and Henri

Matisse, while Csató uses this effect to create his own rich world and to

strengthen his own contemporary and modern narratives. This explains why

there is a blue electrical guitar with a broken neck and a badminton-

necklance among the accessories of an old native Indian woman on a

painting from 2007 and the European legend, the one of William Tell is

embodied in one of Csató's characters of colour. As compared to historically

narrative painting, Csató is different with his individuality and his particular

stories and as a starting point, he interiorizes a more naive mode of

representation. This is a mode of painting going to a neo-folk direction or we

can call it outsider painting because it doesn't go with any of the mainstream

figural painting streams but it's follows its own way. Thus it's not surprising if

I dare to declare that this coherent painting style is the most interesting,

popular and unusual among all the figural streams.

From the end of the 19th century, artists started to return regularly to the art

of the outsiders – the instinctual artistic ways of self-expression and style of

the talents who didn't get any artistic education, of exotic people living in

ancient societis and of children or mentally ill people – and they managed to

incase these into the universal art. This attitude – turning to the queer - is

still popular in the art of painting, and it's seasoned with the actuality of our

age: the snapshots and artifacts of urban existence.

Lately, Csató started to utilize a new opportunity in his painting experiments.

He started to paint on three-metres long papers and that requires a great deal

of technical preparedness and concentration. There was also a shift in his set

of motifs: humans were replaced by animals, the urban environment was

replaced by the garden. His works formulated with his own and universal

symbolics and penetrated by muggy exoticism is characterized by the style of

old murals: intentional drawing mistakes, informal background, unbalanced

proportions and simplification. We have to look further if we want to find his

sources, further than his gesture turning to the art of primitive societies and

the art of the masters of French avant-garde, maybe we should look around a

sacral rite that precedes a hunt. After all, it's irrelevant if we look for

antitypes or reference points or where we look for them because these works

are here, in the present and we have to look at them with the eyes of today,

no matter how much we don't want to.

Zita Sárvári

Translated by Elõd Márton

Name Csató, József

Place and time of birth Mezõkövesd, 15. June 1980. Education1998-2000 Faculty of Art and Visual Communication, Eszterhazy Karoly Teacher Training College, Eger 2000- University of Fine Arts, Budapest, class of Dóra Maurer 2002 Tóth Menyhért Scholarship2004 Erasmus Fellowship to the Nürnberg, class of Angerman

Solo Exhibitions:

2012. “Large Papers” Rumbach Synagogue, Budapest2012. “Unfinished lines” K13 Gallery, Budapest2010. “Women, pastery, and a snake” Nextart Gallery, Budapest2010. “Girl with a Csató-painting” Nexart Gallery, Budapest2009. “In line” Nextart Gallery, Budapest2007. “Brand New” Chinese Caracters Gallery, Budapest2003. Studio of Contemporary Artists: „Being a cactus”

Other Exhibitions:

2011. “Small Talk” , Virág Judit Gallery, Budapest

2011. Galeria Civica, Potenza, Italy

2010. CK Centre, Skopje, Macedonia

2010. The Fridge, Sofia , Bulgaria 2011. Artist Camp of Elnök Street, Budapest2010. “Tabou Script” - Carton Gallery, Budapest 2008. “Pulsating” ,Szada2007. “All is one” Collegium Hungaricum , Wien2007. “Uncut version” Ernst Museum, Budapest2007. “New Tide” Octogon Art Galleria, Budapest2005. Institute of Geology: Exibition of students of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest2005. Raifeissen Bank, Budapest: „We're 25” 2005. Artus Galéria – Night of Museums, Budapest 2005. Hall of Arts – Exhibition for „Hedopiritanists” 2004. Kunst im Gang, Bamberg, Germany „hartes brot” jointly 2003. University of Fine Arts of Stuttgart, „Transmission”2003. Artus Gallery, joint exhibition with Gábor Király és Eszter Szabó ,Budapest2002. Goethe Institute: „two” , Budapest2000. Art pool: „impossible” ,Budapest

Lista lucrãrilor / List of the Artworks

Ioan, 68x62cm, ulei pe pînzã / John, 68x62cm, oil on canvas 2010

În grãdina lui Rufino, 95x135cm, ulei pe pînzã / Rufino's garden, 95x135cm, oil on canvas 2008

Bãiat,150x150cm, tuº pe hãrtie / Boy, 150x150cm, ink on paper, 2011

Emoþionat, 100x70cm, ulei pe pînzã / Excited, 100x70cm, oil on canvas, 2008

Fatã frumoasã, 31x26cm, ulei pe pînzã / Beautiful girl,31x26cm, oil on canvas, 2011

A mîncat, 62x47cm, ulei pe pînzã / He ate it, 62x47cm, oil on canvas, 2011

Ultra Viola, 115x123cm, ulei pe pînzã / Ultra Viola, 115x123cm, oil on canvas, 2011

Pantaloni de, 80x70cm, ulei pe pînzã / Trousers, 80x70cm, oil on canvas, 2011

Vãduvã, 98x88cm, ulei pe pînzã / Widow, 98x88cm, oil on canvas, 2007

Descoperire, 31x26cm, ulei pe pînzã / Find, 31x26cm, oil on canvas, 2011

Fatã frumoasã, 31x26cm, ulei pe pînzã / Beautiful Girl, 31x26cm, oil on canvas, 2011

La collectioneuse, 80x80cm, ulei pe pînzã / La collectioneuse, 80x80cm, oil on canvas,

2010

Vremuri grele, 110x120cm, ulei pe pînzã / Hard Times, 110x120cm, oil on canvas, 2011

În grãdinã, 150x250cm, tehnicã mixtã / In the Graden, 150x250cm, Mixed technique, 2012

Fazan, 150x230cm, tehnicã mixtã / Pheasant, 150x230cm, Mixed technique, 2012

Brusc, 100x100cm, ulei pe pînzã / Suddenly, 100x100cm, oil on canvas, 2009

Prietenul homarului, 117x81cm, ulei pe pînzã / Lobster Friends, 117x81cm, oil on canvas, 2009

Rude, 104,5X80cm, ulei pe pînzã / Relatives, 104,5X80cm, oil on canvas, 2007

Femelã, 95x130cm, ulei pe pînzã / Female, 95x130cm, oil on canvas, 2010

Azul, 40x30cm, ulei pe pînzã / Azul, 40x30cm, oil on canvas, 2012