Vielmetter Los Angeles is thrilled to present Siren Hospitality, a solo exhibition by Hungarian painter József Csató, on view from March 22 to May 3, 2025. This exhibition marks Csató's first solo show in Los Angeles, featuring a selection of paintings alongside a site-specific installation composed of painted walls and hand-painted canvas cut-out shapes. József Csató's paintings depict gatherings of dreamlike figures enriched by a unique aesthetic geometry. These unconventional forms dynamically emerge from his colorful canvases, creating a psychedelic symbolism in which amorphous shapes commingle to establish a compelling visual language. The striking compositions are complemented by soft, muted, monotone backgrounds that reveal modernist, fresco-like qualities through surreal layering. Csató’s distinctive style distinguishes him from conventional narrative painting, seamlessly blending the familiar with the exotic into a cohesive framework that embodies both still life and landscape. His totemic hybrid beings evoke ancient cultures and subtly reference Dadaism, particularly reminiscent of the forms created by Jean Arp. Filled with contradictions, Csató's artwork captures both joy and sorrow. Each painting begins with a wash of black, gradually building layers of paint to create mythical picture planes. The final surfaces come alive with intricate patterns of cross-hatching and marbling, enhanced by gestural oil stick markings and subtle airbrushed details. In Siren Hospitality, the recurring eyeball is a consistent theme throughout the exhibited paintings, evoking a range of feelings from humor to suspicion. For Csató, the act of seeing becomes an endeavor laden with truth, prophecy, and knowledge. The eyes also gaze back at the viewer, delivering an almost watchful warning. About the artist József Csató (b. 1980, Hungary) lives and works in Budapest. He graduated from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2006 under the guidance of artist Dóra Maurer. A three-time recipient of the Gyula Derkovits Art Scholarship, József also won the prestigious Esterházy Art Award in 2013, recognizing young artists in Hungary. József has held solo exhibitions at PLUS-ONE Gallery in Antwerp, Semiose Gallery in Paris, Double Q Gallery in Hong Kong, and Galerie Krinzinger in Vienna. His works are part of numerous private and institutional collections, including the Ludwig Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, and the Hungarian National Bank. ____ Vielmetter Los Angeles is excited to present Unlearning, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Tonia Calderon, on view from March 22 to May 3, 2025. Tonia Calderon employs a bold and innovative approach to painting, utilizing materials such as acrylics, floral pigments, fuel, glass, ink, sand, and resin. Her additive technique balances restraint with impulsiveness, producing finely detailed abstractions that highlight the powerful interplay between time and nature. Unlearning includes nine large-scale works on panel as well as a suite of five smaller panel pieces. Calderon's paintings display atmospheric surfaces and otherworldly textures, reflecting her methodical curiosity and establishing a synergy between the microscopic and macroscopic. Calderon begins each painting as a poem, drawing inspiration from fragments of language and memories. She deconstructs these elements into abstract forms. The unexpected combinations of natural and synthetic materials create intricate, expressive surfaces that embody both harmony and tension, challenging conventional definitions of painting. This process embodies the theme of unlearning, as it involves relinquishing rigid ideas to uncover the fluidity and honesty inherent in transformation. Floral pigments are created by boiling flowers to produce dyes, which are then chemically modified. Resin is added to interact with the colors, serving as both a preservative and an interrupter. Sand and glass provide additional texture and disruption. Deeply connected to their materiality, Calderon's works exude a gestural resonance, reflected in the interplay between the physical properties of the materials and the expressive forms she creates. Throughout her creative process, Calderon contemplates both physical and symbolic meanings, addressing themes such as chaos and order, as well as time and memory. By emphasizing the limitations of language through visual abstraction, she examines the tension between organic and synthetic elements, celebrating impermanence and the fleeting beauty of life. Her works embody the notion that everything is in a state of change, evolution, and decomposition. About the artist Tonia Calderon (b. 1987, San Jose, California) is a visual artist based in Los Angeles. Over the past decade, she has exhibited her work through various platforms and at institutions such as SF MoMA and MOCA Cleveland. Her efforts embody an ambitious vision that challenges traditional boundaries and explores new opportunities for presenting contemporary art.