30/05/2026
Concluding this afternoon at 5pm is Artworks & Bookworks by Steven Tonkin:
In my artwork I draw a creative lineage from the radical experiments with the book form that characterised early 20th century Modernism, specifically Constructivism and Bauhaus graphic design and typography. As a curator and writer, I also have a specific interest in Conceptual art of the 1960s and Australian Post-Object practice in the 1970s as theoretical reference points within global conceptualism. Artist’s books are a key focus of my creative practice, while more broadly I find inspiration in the intersections of geometric abstraction with text, graphics, posters and signage. I try to explore tensions between the textual and pictorial, conceptual and material, functional and sculptural, so as to address both art historical and current perspectives. Last year I undertook a residency in Berlin, which gave me the opportunity to visit the Bauhaus, Masters’ Houses and new Museum in Dessau. This experience has provided the impetus for my recent approach, in which I endeavour to adapt some of the basic principles from Kandinsky’s ‘Point and Line to Plane’ (1926) into my own work. In my ‘multiple’ bookworks there is an implicit duality that binds the mechanical with the handmade. I start by making a hand-painted template, which is then scanned, photocopied or commercially printed, with each copy then finally hand-cut and manually folded to complete the edition. Critical to my thinking are the ideals and ethics of ‘democratic multiple’ artists’ books, which I advocate for their ongoing relevance in contemporary practice. Steven Tonkin 2026
