Painter
Tona
9 Artworks
Tona
Germany
Painting on the streets; painting for the streets.
A dogma internalized by TONA.
Painting breaks all barriers as it doesn’t require a language to communicate.
Whilst painting, kids are usually seen curiously hanging around him, and their lives are captured by him, through photographs.
These photos then transform into heavily detailed stencils, which are then painted in another city on another wall.
And so, their personalised stories start journeying across the crumbling facades of this world.
How will these images communicate with the passerby’s?
Elucidated by the response and interaction that is brought upon whilst viewing.
It`s a game. A visualization. A alleged observation without comment.
These images don`t try and change the course of society.
Instead they are interested in a slow and cautious contact with the onlookers – extracting a visual and emotional frequency from within.
TONA's neverending search for an emotional connect becomes a permanent activity for him. Preferring the most unclean spaces to paint, with his keen interest in decay- One of life’s paradoxes; since his stencils are overtly clean in appearance.
TONA's motifs travel with him and often spreads independently through digital networks. From the photo, to the stencil, to the wall, to the memory, through the lens of a camera, into the world, into the universe...
Everything is in flux, although the image stays firmly fixed on the wall, eventually it will collapse with it or disappear under a new layer of paint.
Somehow everything is connected and time remains a sensation.
Text © 2018 by Anna Lafrentz
Translation © 2018 by Anpu Varkey
A dogma internalized by TONA.
Painting breaks all barriers as it doesn’t require a language to communicate.
Whilst painting, kids are usually seen curiously hanging around him, and their lives are captured by him, through photographs.
These photos then transform into heavily detailed stencils, which are then painted in another city on another wall.
And so, their personalised stories start journeying across the crumbling facades of this world.
How will these images communicate with the passerby’s?
Elucidated by the response and interaction that is brought upon whilst viewing.
It`s a game. A visualization. A alleged observation without comment.
These images don`t try and change the course of society.
Instead they are interested in a slow and cautious contact with the onlookers – extracting a visual and emotional frequency from within.
TONA's neverending search for an emotional connect becomes a permanent activity for him. Preferring the most unclean spaces to paint, with his keen interest in decay- One of life’s paradoxes; since his stencils are overtly clean in appearance.
TONA's motifs travel with him and often spreads independently through digital networks. From the photo, to the stencil, to the wall, to the memory, through the lens of a camera, into the world, into the universe...
Everything is in flux, although the image stays firmly fixed on the wall, eventually it will collapse with it or disappear under a new layer of paint.
Somehow everything is connected and time remains a sensation.
Text © 2018 by Anna Lafrentz
Translation © 2018 by Anpu Varkey
Credentials
- International Exposure
- Works on commission
Tona is coming to Sengawa / Tsomoriri - Tokyo, Japan
"In TONA tional" Soloshow / Galerie Lithium - Paris, France
"Paint and Travel" Soloshow / Artika Gallery - Pondicherry, India
Jadu Tona „black magic“ solo exhibit / Kulturgold - Hamburg, Germany
Das Feine und das Andere / Das Bürro - Hamburg, Germany
Tona @ Geern Shop / Geern Shop - Hamburg, Germany
Sinero and Tona / Sold out Gallery - Bochum, Germany
Tona and Quasikunst / Kulturgold - Hamburg, Germany
Solo Exhibit / Assoonas Gallery Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
[deːɐ̯ ˈt͡saːn deːɐ̯ ˈt͡saɪ̯t] Der Zahn Der Zeit Alias and Tona / O.D. Gallery - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Write Festival / Sold out Gallery - Bochum, Germany
Urban Art Edition / Urban Shit Gallery - Hamburg, Germany
Urban Art Edition / Urban Shit Gallery - Hamburg, Germany
Wall Art Festival Inawashiro / Inawashiro High School - Inawashiro, Japan
Spicy Friday 2 / LoCo Love and Coconuts - Bali, Indonesia
MIllerntor Gallery #9 / Millerntor Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
MS Artville / Dockville - Hamburg, Germany
Viva con Agua Projektreise / Chitwan - Kathmandu, Nepal
Microgalleries / Kaalo101 - Patan/Kathmandu, Nepal
Millerntor Gallery #8 / Millerntor Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
MS Artville / Dockville - Hamburg, Germany
Expo collective “Paris” / Le Lavo/Matik - Paris, France
Cut Out Stencil Show / Small Space - Hamburg, Germany
Neusicht / Neubad Gallery - Luzern, Switzerland
Millerntor Gallery #7 / Millerntor Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
Was soll das sein? QU `EST -CE QUE ÇA VEUT DIRE? / La Fabrique Apefim - Caen, France
L`Enfant / Le Lavo/Matik - Paris, France
Affordable Art Fair Hamburg / Messe Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
Edition 1 / Urban Shit Gallery - Hamburg, Germany
Millerntor Gallery #6 / Millerntor Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
Lunatic Festival / Universität Lüneburg - Lüneburg, Germany
Rishikesh Steetart Art Festival / Public Space - Rishikesh, India
Ausschnitte / Urban Shit Gallery - Hamburg, Germany
Wall Art Festival Khagaria / Holy Ganges School - Khagaria, India
Kunstmesse Regensburg / Städt. Galerie "Leerer Beutel" - Regensburg, Germany
Affordable Art Fair Hamburg / Messe Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
Millerntor Gallery #5 / Millerntor Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
I like it RAW / Neurotitan / Haus Schwarzenberg - Berlin, Germany
St.Art Delhi / Public Space - New Delhi, India
Taking Back The Streets / Artbeam - New York, United States
St.Art Mumbai / Public Space - Mumbai, India
Kochi-Muziris-Biennale / Public Space - Kochi, India
Affordable Art Fair Hamburg / Messe Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
Stick together / Roest - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Knoten.13 / Affenfaustgalerie/Kolbenhof - Hamburg, Germany
Paint and Beer / Villa Friekenz - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Urban Art Clash / Cube Berlin - Berlin, Germany
Fokus Festival / Alter Schlachthof - Görlitz, Germany
Reclaim Your City / Gängeviertel - Hamburg, Germany
Silence Is A Lie / SEZ Berlin - Berlin, Germany
Palast der Produktion / Wollkämmerei - Bremen, Germany
Paris Zone Libre / Gallery Frichez Nous La Paix - Paris, France
Festival-N.A.T.U.R. / Rotunde Alter Hauptbahnhof - Bochum, Germany
Velada Santa Lucia / Alcaldía de Maracaibo - Santa Lucia, Venezuela
Millerntor Gallery / Millerntor Hamburg - Hamburg, Germany
Toronto International Adhesive Arts Expo / Scotiabank Nuit Blanche - Toronto, Canada
Artbase Grabowsee / Heilstätte Grabowsee - Grabowsee, Germany
13. Kunst- und Kulturfestival Neukölln / Neukölln - Berlin, Germany
Upfest / Public Space - Bristol, United Kingdom
Guten Tag / Woodstock Industrial Centre - Cape Town, South Africa
S3T Art Kikinda / National Museum of Kikinda - Kikinda, Serbia
Explosion / Schauspielhaus - Hamburg, Germany
Reclaim Your City / Neurotitian Gallery - Berlin, Germany
Reuse Project 3 / Public Space - Tel Aviv, Israel
Brave New Art- Interview with TONA
Art Squat- Interview
Vagabundler- GERMANY: Stencil Streetart at its Best – TONA
Asahi Shimbun- Banksy`s? Nope, but they`re just as good, and in Osaka`s streets
Urbanshit - Interview mit dem Stencilkünstler Tona
JeJune- TONA paints everywhere
The Hindu- Art, with no fixed address
Times of India- German artist paints the country with his unique artworks
Scroll- Painting with children: A German street artist has left his mark from Delhi to Kochi
Indiegenous "Travails and Travels"- Finding Tona: A Crisscross Tale of Street Art from Rishikesh
Not the jealous kind- Chasing Tona
aesthetics of crisis- Interview with Tona
co.iki - Tokyo, Japan
DUNE ECO RESSORT - DUNE/PONDICHERRY, India
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
Sammlung Oberfett, Germany
Gängeviertel "Komm in die Gänge" Hamburg, Germany
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