Sònia Toneu

Statement

Sònia Toneu takes the landscape as a reference and as a definition of our identity as a society and as individuals. The fundamental concepts to initiate the creative process come from the observation of nature, the relationship between people and the environment, the coexistence with artificial elements, the superposition of constructions and the saturation of visual stimuli and objects.

The process to build each work is based on the superposition of layers as an accumulation of information and elements that coexist in the same space at the same time. The artist uses diluted acrylic paint in the first layers of the background and in the following she creates geometric and solid shapes that make up the cartography of the image. The gestural brushstrokes of vibrant colors and the hatched of angular or organic lines with wax bars, graphite or markers are also components of this landscape. As the work progresses she destroys parts of the image with the superposition of new elements making their totality in constant transformation and dialogue to transmit her experiences and emotions as part of the current world.

GlogauAIR Project

I was born in Aiguaviva, a small town in the Catalan Pre-coastal mountain range and I grew up in an isolated country house at 600 meters above sea level, a fact that made the family relationship and nature very close during my childhood. My father, builder and peasant, and my mother, artisan and lover of the flora, made in our home habitual to find images of constructions, maps, plans and naturalistic and scientific drawing. My interest in the landscape was cultivated during adolescence, where another important reference appeared: music. I played in several bands for years, with which I was able to travel across the peninsula filling my personal imaginary with memories and different landscapes.

I developed my artistic practice when I decided to study painting at the Escola Massana in Barcelona, where the teacher and painter Javier Puértolas played a key role in the step towards abstraction, discovering at the same time artists such as Albert Oehlen, Julie Mehretu or Franz Ackermann. After completing my career, I traveled through Europe to cities such as Manchester, Copenhagen, Palermo, Berlin, Reykjavik, Madrid or Helsinki, which included themes such as the representation of landscape sound and urban architecture. In the graphic elements is where find the musical and organic influence of mine.

My current works reconfigure the contemporary landscape from layer overlays where I construct, destroy and reconstruct images where the combination of geometric structures and free traces, of vibrant colors, draw maps and circuits of the horizons that I interpret: sounds, lights, movements, artificial structures and natural energies that coexist in the same space, like a soundtrack of my experience in each place.

I would like to continue this study of the contemporary landscape in the city of Berlin to open new horizons at a professional level. Get to know the city’s artistic environment and create a network of new contacts to have new experiences that we must grow as an artist.

I would also like to take part in open studios as I believe that public feedback is necessary in this personal and artistic growth, to be able to understand other points of view about my work and that of other artists and to be able to give visibility to the works.

CV Summary

EDUCATION

• Arts degree. Open Catalonia University (UOC). Barcelona, Spain (current)
• 2011 Painting degree. Massana School of arts, Barcelona, Spain.

SOLO SHOWS

• 2019 Introspecciones en el paisaje. Galeria Lumbreras, Bilbao.
• 2018 Sonia Toneu. Galeria Espai B, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2017 Defensar la cultura (two person solo). Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus, Spain. Cartografia imaginaria. Convent de les Arts d’Alcover, Spain.
• 2016 Sound scapes. Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus, Spain.
• 2014 Sound maps. Galeria Espai B, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2013 Impuls orgànic (two person solo). Galeria Espai B, Barcelona, Spain.

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

• 2019 Winter group show. Galeria Espai B, Barcelona. Poblenou Open Night, interior mural, La Plataforma art gallery, Barcelona. Tzompaltli, Group show, Galería 18, Playa del Carmen, México. Poblenou Open Day, horizontal outdoor mural rooftop Playground, Barcelona. Affordable Art Fair Milano, with Galería Espiral.
• 2018 Poblenou Open Night, exterior mural for Hotel The Gates, Barcelona. Festival Llambordes Street Art, exterior mural, Reus. Impulsarte – Hybrid Festival. Petit Palace Savoy, Madrid. X Premi Salou de recerca pictòrica. Torre Vella, Salou. STRIPART XXIII, outdoor mural. CC Guinardó, Barcelona. Poblenou Open Day, live interior mural on the festival. Poblenou, Barcelona.
• 2017 Reus Urban Art. Street murals in collaboration of Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus, Spain.
• 2016 Group exhibition Arteles Creative Centre. Haukijarvi, Finland. Group exhibition Farran 23, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2015 100x100Photo. Galeria Espai B, Barcelona, Spain. Winter group show. Galeria Espai B, Barcelona, Spain. Telax 2015. Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus, Spain. Young art biennale. Sabadell, Spain. BBVA Ricard Camí painting prize group show. Terrassa, Spain. Young painters group show. Fundació Iluro Mataró, Spain. Internacional Young painters gro show. Ibercaja , Zaragoza, Spain.
• 2014 Kölner Liste Contemporary Art Fair. De la paraula a la música. Setba, Barcelona, Spain. Més enllà de la Massana. Jim Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2013 SWAB Contemporary Art Fair, represented by Espai B, Barcelona, Spain. Colectiva. Galeria Espai B, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2012 SETBA Jove 2012. Setba, Barcelona, Spain. STRIPART, XVII mostra d’art jove. CCG, Barcelona, Spain. Col·lectiu El Fresc. La Carbonea. Girona, Spain. Open Studio. Satoko Nagashima and Sònia Toneu. ArtFunkl, Manchester, England. Col·lectiu 13. Palau de Congressos. St Julià de Lòria, Andorra. FIGRAMU. Sala Blava Escola Massana, Barcelona, Spain.

RESIDENCIES & AWARDS

• 2020 Artist in residence GlogauAIR, Berlín.
• 2019 Artist in residence grant, Casa del artista Nautilus, Lanzarote. Artist in residence grant Art Circle, Slovenja.
• 2018 Interior rooms mural for The Gates Hotel, Barcelona.
• 2017 Convent de les Arts d’Alcover. Award for the project Cartografies Imaginaries.
• 2016 Artist in Residence, Arteles Creative Centre, Finland.
• 2015 Artist in Residence, Nordanbal, Iceland. Finalist in Telax award. Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus, Spain. Finalist in young art biennale. Sabadell, Spain. Finalist in BBVA Ricard Camí painting prize. Terrassa, Spain. Finalist in Young painters grant. Fundació Iluro Mataró, Spain. Finalist in internacional Young painters grant. Ibercaja , Zaragoza, Spain.
• 2014 Artist in Residence, Cerdeira Village Arts&crafts, Portugal.
• 2013 Finalist in Why I love BCN, Generator Barcelona Art Competition.Spain.
• 2012 Artist in Residence, ArtFunkl, Manchester, England. Select for Art Kudos International Competition.

Gallery