Niele Toroni

Since 1966, Niele Toroni (b. 1937, Muralto, Switzerland, lives and
works in Paris) has applied imprints of a number 50 brush at regular
intervals of 30 cm on a variety of surfaces and supports. For his first
ever institutional solo show in NY and his first in the US in over 25
years, Swiss Institute presents an exhibition that spans close to 5
decades of the artist’s work, featuring imprints on waxed fabric,
canvas, and paper, as well as new, site-specific works created for this
show.
Throughout the years, Niele Toroni has remained steadfast in his
practice of “Travail-Peinture,” in which the working method of applying
paint in imprints of regular intervals delineates what is put on view.
In a challenge to figurative painting, Toroni’s imprints subtly evidence
human touch in the same moment that they obliterate the brushstroke as
an emotive or psychological record. His works are metonymic
interventions in the sense that the painted surface activates a space
where the demarcation between container and contained is abolished. What
is given to the viewer is an imprint of a number 50 paintbrush at
regular intervals of 30 cm. No more, no less.
Explicitly emphasizing the elementary definition of painting, this
simple application of pigment to surface marks a milestone in the
history of conceptual art. Throughout his career, Niele Toroni has
systematically questioned established methods of art-making, while
irreverently challenging accepted notions of authorship and gently
mocking the figure of the artist. Through his commitment to a systematic
working process, he humbly attempts at liberating painting from its own
representation.
Echoing Italian poet and novelist Cesare Pavese’s idea that the only
joy in the world is to begin, Toroni’s work repeats itself in an eternal
recommencement. Thus what may appear as a monolithic entity is actually
a multitude of infinite variations. When confronted with the question
of why continue to repeat his imprints, Toroni invariably responds: “You
can look at the ocean everyday, but it is never the same sea.”
The Niele Toroni exhibition is curated by Clément Delépine, Assistant Curator.
Niele Toroni’s numerous international solo exhibitions include those
at Villa Pisani Bonetti, Bagnolo di Lonigo, Vicenza, Italy (2012); Museo
Civico di Belle Arti, Lugano, Switzerland (2005); Museum Kurhaus Kleve,
Kleve, Germany (2002); Musée d`art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris,
France (2001); CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux,
France (1997); The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (1995);
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (1994); Musée National d’Art
Moderne-Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1991); The Renaissance
Society at University of Chicago, Chicago, USA (1990); Le Consortium,
Dijon, Frank (1990); and Portikus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (1988).
His work is featured in prominent museum collections and permanent
displays such as: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Musée
national d’art moderne, Paris, France; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin,
Germany; Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland; Museum
Kurhaus Kleve, Kleve, Germany; The Strasbourg Museum of Modern and
Contemporary Art, Strasbourg, France; The Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin,
Germany; CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France;
and The Kunstmuseum, Luzern, Switzerland. Niele Toroni is the recipient
of the 2012 Meret Oppenheim Prize awarded by the Swiss Federal Office of
Culture, the 2003 Wolfgang-Hahn Prize awarded by the Museum Ludwig
Cologne, and a French Vermeil Medal awarded by the City of Paris in
2001.