Christiaan Tonnis
Encyclopedia
Christiaan Tonnis is a German symbolist
/realist
painter
, draftsman
, video artist
and published author. He studied at the HfG Offenbach with Dieter Lincke and Herbert Heckmann(de
), and lives in Frankfurt
, Germany.
and psychopathology
such as, catatonic rigidity
or the postnatal psychosis depicted in his 1980–85 collection. To "show the psychic as a second face" he "uses stitchings, masks and fragments of masks—they are sometimes barely visible"
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In 1986, he started to paint landscapes from literature like the "Magic Mountain
(after Thomas Mann
)" and portraits of writers and philosophers. E.g. "he stylizes the philosopher Wittgenstein to a sketchy Icon of a soulless prominence. An almost gruesome picture, expressive in its amply color scheme of white, grey and black, almost like a mold of a Hippocratic face"
Since 2003 his work has become more meditative: "Geometric patterns in bright colors", consistent with Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol)
and New Testament
—the series of minimalistic
"Meditation
pictures".
"Catwalk!
" was exhibited at the Showroom Eulengasse in Frankfurt
, Germany
in 2007. The exhibition consisted of a series of collage
s created of cats' heads on women's bodies. The most recognizable bodies are those of Virginia Woolf
"with big, sad eyes" and Kate Moss
.
In 2006 Tonnis set up a MySpace
page dedicated to Thomas Bernhard
, using pictures tell his biography. The theme of the page was Bernhard's motto "In the darkness everything becomes clear."
In 2008 Tonnis started to contribute reviews on art
to the style magazine DAZEDDIGITAL
.com, London
.
2009: During the "Sommeratelier" at Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt, he created a painting for the performance
"Who let the dogs out, Edith?". This "experimental collage of different media and arts" has been a dialogue with Heinrich von Kleist
's play Penthesilea
, directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
in 1988 with actress Edith Clever
.
, Thomas Bernhard
and the poet Georg Trakl
. Alongside these works stand the video series of "Dream
s", "Electrical Pictures", and animals—exhibiting a pop
, surreal
pictorial language, often humorously staged.
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
/realist
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, draftsman
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
, video artist
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
and published author. He studied at the HfG Offenbach with Dieter Lincke and Herbert Heckmann(de
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
), and lives in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany.
Work
Tonnis’ works are "supported with psychological knowledge" His earliest drawings reflect his interest in psychoanalysisPsychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and psychopathology
Psychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
such as, catatonic rigidity
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
or the postnatal psychosis depicted in his 1980–85 collection. To "show the psychic as a second face" he "uses stitchings, masks and fragments of masks—they are sometimes barely visible"
The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of 20th century German literature....
(after Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
)" and portraits of writers and philosophers. E.g. "he stylizes the philosopher Wittgenstein to a sketchy Icon of a soulless prominence. An almost gruesome picture, expressive in its amply color scheme of white, grey and black, almost like a mold of a Hippocratic face"
Since 2003 his work has become more meditative: "Geometric patterns in bright colors", consistent with Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol)
Bardo Thodol
The Liberation Through Hearing During The Intermediate State , sometimes translated as Liberation Through Hearing or Bardo Thodol is a funerary text...
and New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
—the series of minimalistic
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
"Meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
pictures".
"Catwalk!
Catwalk!
Catwalk! is a series of collages created by Christiaan Tonnis.-Description:Catwalk! exhibits a series of collages created of cat's heads on women's physiques...
" was exhibited at the Showroom Eulengasse in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 2007. The exhibition consisted of a series of collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
s created of cats' heads on women's bodies. The most recognizable bodies are those of Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
"with big, sad eyes" and Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
.
In 2006 Tonnis set up a MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page dedicated to Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...
, using pictures tell his biography. The theme of the page was Bernhard's motto "In the darkness everything becomes clear."
In 2008 Tonnis started to contribute reviews on art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
to the style magazine DAZEDDIGITAL
Dazed & Confused (magazine)
Dazed & Confused is a British style magazine, that was set up in 1992 and published monthly. Its founding editors were Jefferson Hack and Rankin...
.com, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
2009: During the "Sommeratelier" at Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt, he created a painting for the performance
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
"Who let the dogs out, Edith?". This "experimental collage of different media and arts" has been a dialogue with Heinrich von Kleist
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
's play Penthesilea
Penthesilea (Kleist)
Penthesilea is a tragedy by the German playwright Heinrich von Kleist. The play, about the mythological Amazonian queen, Penthesilea, is an exploration of sexual frenzy. Goethe rejected the play as "unplayable".-Plot summary:...
, directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg is a German film director, whose best known film is his lengthy feature, Hitler: A Film from Germany.- Early life :...
in 1988 with actress Edith Clever
Edith Clever
Edith Clever is a German actress.-Filmography:*1976: Sommergäste*1976: Die Marquise von O. *1978: Die linkshändige Frau *1979: Mädchenjahre...
.
Video
Tonnis started to make videos in 2006. His subjects have included William S. BurroughsWilliam S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...
and the poet Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl was an Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists.- Life and work :Trakl was born and lived the first 18 years of his life in Salzburg, Austria...
. Alongside these works stand the video series of "Dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s", "Electrical Pictures", and animals—exhibiting a pop
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
, surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
pictorial language, often humorously staged.
Exhibitions and festivals (selection)
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Contributions to DAZEDDIGITAL.com
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External links
- Christiaan Tonnis in German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...
- Christiaan Tonnis – Homepage
- "Female Warriors", re-title.com
- "William S. Burroughs 3" in Michel Houellebecq vs. William Burroughs, Thought Catalog, 24. April 2010
- Video "Thomas Bernhard – Frost", Art Visuals & Poetry, Austria
- Exhibitions listed on kunstaspekte.de