Tone Fink auf der Drawing Now, Paris 2020

Drawing now 2020
Tone fink

„Die Zeichnung ist Samenkorn
und Blitzschlag!“
„A drawing is a seed and a flash
of lightning.“
„Un dessin est une semence et un
coup de foudre.“
(Per Kirkeby)
Solo exhibition Tone Fink | Drawing Now 2020 We present a solo exhibition
including drawings and drawing books as well as cartoon-like videos, giving insight
into two quite characteristic creative periods. The basic idea of this presentation is
– to show Tone Fink’s development from classical ‘pencil & paper’ drawing as done
during the late 1970’s until early 1980’s – in confrontation to his expanded and
amended drawing style via animated cartooning (videos) and / or scratching, tearing
& grinding techniques partly substituting his pencil drawings. Hence single original
drawings created in 1978 /80 and in 2018, which led to an aggregated booklet
named “mono.tone”, as well as two videos and some books will be on display.
“mono.tone” stands for a limited edition (125 pcs.) printed on handmade paper,
individually signed. Videos – – “ver.saugt” [de.sucked], 2011, 5:17 min., consisting
of approx. 1500 coloured A4 drawings and – “T. nicht füttern” [T. don’t feed],
2016, 2:36 min consisting of approx. 900 coloured A4 drawings. Five drawing
books, – NARRATONES TF 2007, 35x24x2cm, approx. 26 drawings – “ATON(AL)E”,
2006 (34×25,5x4cm) overpaintings and citations by artist – TF, overpaintings in Cy
Twombly’s book 2008_2020.

DRAWING NOW
26 th to 29 th march 2020
tone Fink
Spitzbalkenhoelle, 2014
paper-drawing-coloured-pencil, 63 x 53 cm
Galerie Hrobsky
1010 Vienna, Grünangergasse 6
www.hrobsky.at e-mail: galerie@hrobsky.at
mobile: +43 676 518 3201

untitled, 2016, drawing-paper-ink-pencil, 63 x 52,5 cm

Brustdschungel, 2014, drawing-paper-ink, 63 x 54 cm

untitled, 2014, drawing-paper-ink-pencil, 62 x 54 cm

untitled, 2020, paper-drawing-coloured-pencil, 59 x 42 cm

Naturfeld-V-mono.tone, 2018, paper-teared-pencil, 64 x 48 cm

Luftwesen-mono.tone, 2018, paper-teared-pencil, 64 x 48 cm

Vogelmensch, 1979, paper-drawing-pencil, 27 x 19 cm

untitled, 2019, paper-drawing-coloured-pencil, 59 x 42 cm

Embroisch, 2020, paper-teared-pencil, 59 x 42 cm

untitled, 2020, paper-teared-pencil, 59 x 42 cm

Unikat-TapiesbuchBeigabe-VII,XX, 2012, paper-drawing-coloured-pencil, 38 x 27 cm

Kunstforumumarbeitung, 1982
mixed-media-drawing-paper, 24 x 16,5 cm
Vierbuntnarren, 1982
mixed-media-drawing-paper, 24 x 16,5 cm
Achtstrahlkoepfer, 1982
mixed-media-drawing-paper, 24 x 16,5 cm
Spitzbohrmoerder, 1982
mixed-media-drawing-paper, 24 x 16,5 cm

Tone fink
Born on 1 January 1944 in Schwarzenberg in the state of
Vorarlberg in western Austria.
Anton ‘Tone’ Fink studied painting and graphics at the
Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna between 1968 and 1973
under the expert guidance of professors Maximilian Melcher
and Max Weiler. In 1985 he became a founding member
of the Austrian animated film society ASIFA AUSTRIA.
He teaches at the international summer academy for fine arts in Salzburg and Traunkirchen
(in Upper Austria).
Today he lives and works in Vienna, Fussach (in Vorarlberg) and Schattendorf (in Burgenland in
eastern Austria).
Tone Fink is a graphic artist, painter, sculptor, performance artist and film maker – in other words
a respected artist and fictional persona all rolled into one. The scope of his work defies any
categorisation. .
This supremely talented artist, who originally hails from Vorarlberg in western Austria and who
studied painting and graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, has worked across the full
spectrum of artistic media and techniques.
Drawing is the common thread that runs through Tone Fink’s work. His drawings are spontaneous
and unplanned, direct and immediate. They provide the mouthpiece for his creative passion and
source of inspiration for his performances and sculptures. Full of humour and irony, they give an
insight into the personal world of this highly spirited artist, whose abounding creativity and
imagination also finds expression in his love of word play and word creation.
His work never fails to surprise, thanks to the creativity of the shapes and structures and the
wonderful communicative quality which speaks directly to audiences and invites them in.
“Art is about rediscovering your childhood”
“The biggest and most fatal pitfall in art and also life itself is to rely on intellect
rather than intuition.”

For Tone Fink, this is the fundamental starting point for his incredibly diverse and often perplexing
body of work. Or as Hans Gercke, the long-standing director of the Heidelberg Arts Association,
very aptly puts it: .
“Tone Fink rummages around in the bizarre cabinet of curiosities of his catholic upbringing with its
pagan residues, suppressed sexuality, eagerly categorised sins and punishments, felix culpa, seven
sorrows, glorious wounds, precious blood, sweet heart of Jesus, Corpus Christi, Carnival, death
and the devil”.
.
From his early days as an altar boy, his work (inspired by Hermann Nitsch and the poems of
Peter Turrini) has evolved through his creative ‘Papierverletzungen’ [paper injuries] phase, and his
fantastical sculptures with their sensual, tactile ‘neominimalistic’ elements, right through to functional
seating and cabinets.
Tone fink
One of his main aims is to expand the very definition of art by playfully combining various traditional
art forms – drawings elaborated into expansive sculptures, films or artistic performances. For many
years he has been combining graphics and sculpture in the creation of his paper sculptures.
In his 2011 work entitled ‘Tone mit Krone im Papiergewand’ [Tone, bearing crown and dressed in
papers], he even transformed himself into a paper sculpture – “Tone Fink the fictional persona”.
While there is a certain violence to Tone Fink's works characterised by ‘Papierverletzungen’
[‘paper injuries’] – in which he ‘hurts’ the paper by inflicting scratches, rips and holes – his books
show an entirely opposite highly sensitive approach to the medium. Indeed, Jan Tabor (winner of
2011 City of Vienna Award for Journalism) described him as:
“A surrealist medic who heals the wounds, seals over the holes or leaves them to rest. From the
shreds and tatters he creates something new.”
When writing about Fink's book ‘Weißbleich’ [‘white-pale’], the same commentator writes:
“Tone Fink reduces the magnificence of baroque mysticism to mere fragments and suggestions,
frequently transforms the apocalyptic into the paradisiacal – yet the ambivalence of the symbolism
remains intact.”
Tone Fink has also been producing and publishing books since the 1980s, which often contain
small collections of drawings, which, although they were created spontaneously, were collected
over a period of several months. He also enjoys adding his own artistic touch to existing drawings,
as in his 2008 works ‘Erotone Leibesübung’ [‘erotone gymnastics’] and ‘Tapiesbuch’ [‘Tapies’s
book’], the latter of which saw him transform a monograph by Catalan painter Antoni Tapies.
Here, as in all his works, his drawings reflect his wide-ranging interests, even extending as far as
botany and geography in his book ‘Sehstücke’ [‘viewing pieces’].

GALERIE ULRIKE HROBSKY
Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky shows both established and
upcoming positions of contemporary art focusing on
painting, sculpture and drawing. In the context of
the European-wide actions of the so called "Month
of Photography", works of this medium, at the
interface to painting, are shown by artists represented
by the gallery.
.
At the main location 1010, Vienna, Grünangergasse 6, approx. eight
to ten exhibitions per year will be held, as well as at least two
experimental exhibitions in our branch gallery (“showroom
Ottakring”) located 1160 Vienna, Grundsteingasse 40.
Between 2007 to 2018 Ulrike Jakob (head of gallery) curated
annual exhibitions at the Papiermachermuseum Steyrermühl
(“Museum of Papercrafting Steyrermühl”), whereby the exhibitions
were documented accompanied by professional publications.
Due to that close cooperation with the Papiermachermuseum
Steyrermühl/Upper Austria, a certain focus on paper as a material
in contemporary art has developed more and more.
With the goal of giving young artists international exposure,
in 2005 the gallery together with european galleries leading
colleagues formed the European Art Project, and presents
young art twice a year in its showroom at Grundsteingasse 40,
1160 Vienna.
The gallery participates regularly at several art fairs in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland.
1010 Vienna, Grünangergasse 6
phone: +43 (0)1 513 76 76, mobile: +43 (0)676 518 32 01
www.hrobsky.at e-mail: galerie@hrobsky.at
Opening Hours: Wed – Fr 1pm – 6pm, Sat 11am – 3pm

Impressum
Editor:
Galerie Hrobsky
Photographs:
Gallery Hrobsky
Atelier Tone FINK
Alfred Jakob
Credits: Tone FINK © Bildrecht
Cover:
Tone FINK
Spitzbalkenhölle, 2014
paper-drawing-coloured-pencil, 63 x 53 cm
Printed by:
druck.at
Graphics:
schuetzdesign.at
Edition:
250 pieces