My name is József Csató, I am a painter living and working in Budapest, Hungary. Becoming an artist wasn't decided in one moment. I would rather say that it is the result of a (perhaps still ongoing) process that today I can do what I love most. It was an important point when, towards the end of university, I decided that I wasn't going to look for a job in order to support my painting practice. I have seen in my environment that it always backfires and there is no energy left for the real purpose. It was in that moment I decided to take the riskier path.
Selling my first painting gave me confidence. I thought, surely there will be a next one and I don't have to be a bartender to paint. Then, I immediately thought that someone at home would see this painting a lot. To this day, I find it very interesting when people say they think a lot of me because they look at a painting of mine every day. It's also very strange for me, because I don't really think about them every day, but the feeling that someone is hopefully being recharged by my work, that an energy I once put into it is conserved and still working, is magical and irreplaceable.
Besides movies, music and nature, my main source of inspiration is always my previous painting. It is the driving force behind the next one, which inspires the one after that, and so on. It's very important for me to feel this ‘ball’ bouncing all the time, so that I can find new paths and, if I get lost, I can end up with new solutions. Mistakes and dirt can later turn into gold.
Oil paint is my favorite material, because of its depth and its versatility. I have always been a fickle person when it comes to color. I often tend to like something I have hated before.
Oil paint is my favorite material, because of its depth and its versatility. I have always been a fickle person when it comes to color. I often tend to like something I have hated before.
Creating art has changed my life and perspectives at every possible level, as I can't get out of my skin, I have the same attitude in everything I do, from raising my children to painting. And they interact back and forth. In my opinion, taste is my most important compass in most subjects. I want my works to be able to function in the world with the same randomness and nonchalance as a natural phenomenon.
For me, a good work always leaves more questions than it answers. Even when painting, this shows me the most reliable direction to continue in. In the end, however, there is also a very important element of calmness, which is nevertheless radiated by the work. A ‘there are a lot of questions, but it’s all right’ kind of state.
For me, a good work always leaves more questions than it answers. Even when painting, this shows me the most reliable direction to continue in. In the end, however, there is also a very important element of calmness, which is nevertheless radiated by the work. A ‘there are a lot of questions, but it’s all right’ kind of state.
