Diego Tonus

Cooperation scholarship：
Funded by the Mondriaan Fund

Diego Tonus lives and works as a visual artist in The Hague (NL). 

Within his artistic practice, Diego Tonus focuses on „reproduction” as a tool to question control systems and power structures by transforming images, objects and collective experiences and presenting their underlying structures of codification and normativity. Tonus’s mix-media practice is based on “archiving” seen as an obsessive and creative gesture. This method characterizes the artist’s way of observing events, through creating sculptures, photographs, performance and film.

Tonus studied Visual Arts at IUAV University, Venice, and at the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam. Solo shows and presentations include those at Ca’ Pesaro Venice; CSAC Parma; Whitechapel Gallery London; STROOM Den Haag; Van Eyck Maastricht. His work has been presented internationally at venues in Bologna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Singapore, Paris, Turin, Nürnberg, Los Angeles, and Gwangju.
Among his recent publications: “From State To State” (Electa); “Never Again” (Mousse); “Fragments of a Conversation with a Counterfeiter” (Roma Publications).

During his residency, Tonus will develop “Professional Secrets”, a series of handcrafted sculptures with wood inlays shaped like a contract page embedding professional secrets that were shared with the artist. Collaborating with local craftsmen, the artist will explore traditional wood inlay and lacquering techniques. The residency will conclude with a public presentation showcasing the making-of process and the conceptual interplay of craftsmanship, secrecy and control systems.