TONI R. TOIVONEN (born in Helsinki, Finland, 1987) examines the duality of life.
He is best known for his gold-hued brass works created by composing animal carcases on sheets of brass and letting the process of rotting oxidize the brass. A dead animal’s body breaks down and ceases to exist, but it still leaves its presence, and “a painting reveals itself”.
Process is physical and even grotesque, but the trace seared into the brass plate creates an aesthetic image that is peaceful and dignified.
Toivonen has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2016. He started off as a painter but has since worked with different techniques, experimenting towards a more conceptual outcome.
Toivonen’s work has been exhibited in Finland, London, and New York, and his work can be found in public collections such as the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Saastamoinen Foundation, the Sara Hildén Museum of Art, the Heino Art Foundation Collection and Vantaa Art Museum Artsi. Toivonen has won The Art of Basware 2014 global competition, held for artists under 30 years old.
Toivonen in represented by Galerie Forsblom, (Helsinki and Stockholm).
He lives in the middle of a forest somewhere in Finland.
TONI R. TOIVONEN 