Ennio Toniolo
Is certainly a most prolific and eclectic Swiss artist. In sixty years of incessant activity, his techniques range from oils, watercolors, bas-reliefs, linocuts (to name just a few) to sculptures in wood, plastic, glass and iron and all hand made by Toniolo himself (with the exception of the bronzes and marbles that are produced by specialised firms working on models and instructions from the artist).
Initially close to German Expressionism with cubist influences, he then moved away from it to develop, over the last twenty years, a very personal abstract iconographic language.
Without fear of contradiction we can say that, for Toniolo, the ultimate end in creating is not the completing of the work per se but rather the act of creating itself: immersing oneself in the creative flow, living it to the full, in this consits for Toniolo the true meaning of his artistic activity.
In this sense Toniolo's works reveal the subtle traces of what is primarily a very intimate spiritual journey in addition to the display of aesthetics and formalism. This is a journey that is sometimes painful, sometimes joyful, but always profoundly human.
