We talk about quiet in painting often, the evocation of a feeling of something serene, calm and almost empty of sound. Tony Toscani is balancing a few things in his painting, especially in the works he has in Calloused Hymns of Loneliness at Carl Kostyál in London: the figures in his work are hearing something, sometimes it appears loud, but there is a quiet nature in the environment they are in. A few works even show the figures literally covering their ears in an internal megaphone of monologue, but the viewer feels like there is only white noise. It’s arresting and stunning, especially in the grand but sparse space of Carl Kostyál.