Toninho Dingl
The idea behind it, however, runs deep and has its roots in a highly philosophical question concerning the
relationship between aesthetics and anaesthesia:
For the artist, the concept of aesthetics in our entrance hall corresponds to these experiences.
The anaesthetist, as the artist’s antagonist, petrifies and numbs the senses. He ‘keeps the hall of experiences as small as possible’, according to Dingl, and thus establishes the antithesis of aesthetics, which is pictorially resolved in the crushed tablet packet as a ‘dented dialectic’ – loosely based on Heiner Müller and Alexander Kluge.
Always ready – never a ready-made.
Toninho Dingel moves with a light touch along the tightrope between humour and literary depth, without a trace of heaviness. He skilfully sidesteps any naivety or kitsch, creating works that make you smile whilst still prompting reflection. The viewer plays an important role and bears the responsibility of responding to the images.
His ideas remain diverse and do not settle on any particular direction; he explores and plays with the boundaries of painting – partly inspired by artists such as Nicole Eisenmann or Marcel Duchamp. However, his works are never ready-mades. A great deal of artistic labour and craftsmanship goes into each of the works.
The bigger the thing, the bigger the disaster.
The ball that flies just past the fire alarm during PE – a situation almost everyone remembers from their school days. Its replicas look deceptively real, and the allure that such a small object can exude is enormous. Dingl explores this allure in his ‘Fire Alarm’ series. What happens when this is blown up to a massive size and hangs on the wall? A target for that childlike fascination, which somehow carries over into adulthood, true to the motto ‘The bigger the thing, the bigger the disaster.’
Current exhibitions:
Anyone currently in Berlin has the opportunity to view Toninho Dingl’s works in the exhibition at MISA.
With great modesty, he tells me about the current exhibition – almost as if his presence there were a huge mistake. Of course, it isn’t – his two works were sold even before they arrived.
His works are a great asset to the modern art world, which is all the more reason for us to be delighted to welcome Toninho Dingl as part of the 2021 Student Art Market exhibition in Leipzig. We are excited to see what he has to offer there and are delighted to welcome him as an artist to our Student Art Market community.