Biography
Kosta Tonev (b. 1980, Bulgaria) is a visual artist based in Vienna, Austria. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia and a Master's degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Expanding beyond his foundational training in painting, Tonev embraces a multidisciplinary approach, integrating performative and text-based practices across media such as drawing, video, installation, and sound. Rooted in research and storytelling, his work constructs narratives incorporating references to music, film, intellectual discourse, and popular culture. Drawing on personal experiences or adopting fictional personas, he explores themes of society and politics, to playfully deliver a first-person history of the present.
Tonev’s recent solo projects include the exhibition “Tales from the Dustbin of History” at Bildraum 01 in Vienna (2023) and the web-based work “Late Night in Sorrento” (2020) hosted by Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart and ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe. Amongst others, he has participated in “Making Worlds: An Imagineering Project” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei (2022), "Red Vienna" at the Vienna Museum in Vienna (2019), “So Far, So Right: A Study of Reforms and Transitions Across Borders” at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei (2018), “I and the Others: Collection on Display VI” at Museum der Moderne Salzburg in Salzburg (2014) and “Why Duchamp? From object to museum and back (125 years)” at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Sofia (2012). Download full CV here.