ART CITIES:N.York-Niele Toroni

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”.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Swiss Institute Archive

Since 1966, Niele Toroni has applied imprints of a number 50 brush at regular intervals of 30 cm on a variety of surfaces and supports. For his first  solo sexhibition in he US in over 25 years, Swiss Institute presents an exhibition that spans close to five 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. 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.

Info: Swiss Institute/Contemporary Art, 18 Wooster Str., New York, Curating: Clément Delépine, Duration: 3/6-6/9/15, Days & Hours: Wed-Sun: 12:00-18:00, www.swissinstitute.net