Biography
Kosta Tonev is a visual artist based in Vienna, Austria. He received a BA degree from the National Academy of Art in Sofia and an MA degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. In the years that followed, his work expanded beyond his initial training as a painter to include performative and text-based approaches, employing the media of photography, video, installation and sound. His interest in language and storytelling is closely linked to the field of artistic research. He constructs narratives involving references to music, film, intellectual discourse, and popular culture. Drawing on his own experiences or an alter ego he has invented, he often addresses issues around history and politics in a humorous and playful way. In the process, the artist renders a complex archaeology of the present, told in the first person.
Tonev has participated in numerous exhibitions including: "Red Vienna" at the Wien Museum in Vienna (2019), “So Far, So Right. A Study of Reforms and Transitions Across Borders” at 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). His recent project “Late Night in Sorrento” (2020) represents a web-based work hosted by Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart and ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe. Download full CV here.