Blurring the lines between artistʼs book and monograph, this volume is the only one in English on Niele Toroni and the most comprehensive in print, relentlessly documenting nearly five decades of his exhibitions.

Part of a generation of artists who transformed our understanding of painting, Toroni has applied a paint-covered no. 50 brush at regular intervals of 30 cm to a variety of surfaces since 1966. With each brushstroke he encapsulates the fullness of the human touch without leaving an emotive record.

Both irreverent and sublime, his travail/peinture (work/painting) repeats itself in an eternal recommencement. ‘You can look at the ocean every day’ Toroni reminds us, ‘but it is never the same sea.’

Published retrospectively after the 2015 exhibition, Niele Toroni at Swiss Institute / CONTEMPORARY ART, New York.