Valentino Tonini
Interview realised in autumn 2021
Created in the early 1980’s by Bruno and Paolo Tonini, with the intention to focus on rare or out of print books and other documents, L’Arengario Studio Bibliografico is a family story! Valentino, my first question is about the catalogue you created through the years; is it only focusing on avant-garde movements, or are you also working with contemporary artists’ books and documents?
We started focusing on historical avant-gardes, collecting through the time one of the most important group of Futurist materials in the world for example. But everything change, and we also did a few times in our history. Almost 15 years ago we started to sell neo avant-gardes like conceptual art, fluxus, minimal art, and actually these are the main paths of our archive. The approach to the strictly contemporary art is a bit careful, because we think that in our stock should be only historicized documents and books. We released on September 4 a list dedicated to invitation cards from 1990 to 2021, but it was an attempt.
At the moment, I am personally researching contemporary artists’ books for our collection, looking at the productions of the newest publishing houses.
That is an interresting point! Since a couple of years now, we see lot of articles nowadays talking about a certain ‘‘rebirth’’ of artists’ editions, I would be curious to know what are your thoughts about it? And how do you see those new editorial practices?
Since I’m starting Tonini Editore, it’s pretty obvious what I think. Jokes apart, this field could be explored again and again, both for the variety of the “book” medium and the infinite numbers of way to read it, but we could keep in mind that this could take us to a kind of ‘‘saturation’’ of publications.
For a few years now, you and your brother has joined the adventure, how does it work? Each of you has a specific mission and interest for a specific field, or is it more open?
I joined the group a couple of years ago, while my brother (he is 17 right now) is not part of the Studio officially, but sometimes he helps us, especially during the fairs all around the Europe. As I said before, my interests are in contemporary art publications and books, but of course I work on different fields for catalogs and lists.
Working as a book shop, one of your main mission is to find and sell books, but for a short period you also had been collaborating with 17.2 Art Gallery, which is specialized in artists’ books, posters and other ephemera. You now are organizing exhibitions in your space, you even publish catalogs from them. Do you think, that exhibiting books is also now part of your job? Plus, there is something very challenging when exhibiting artists’ books because of their nature, how are you approaching those questions?
We used to exhibit books – not only artists’ books, but also avant-gardes and gastronomy for example – in our space many years ago, but we decided to stop for a period because it was so stressful and complicated.
During our collaboration with 17.2 Art Gallery, the gallery owned by my mum, we were experimenting exhibitions dedicated to artist’s books in a window in the city center; it was very exciting and funny studying new ways to exhibit those materials.
We consider the exhibitions an important part of our job, both for the importance of these events and because we really enjoy the time doing them.
Actually we are collaborating with Edoardo Monti, founder and owner of Palazzo Monti in Brescia, for an exhibition on view from 2nd October 2021 dedicated to a small selection from our private collection of artists’ invitations; the most challenging part was the display, because as you were saying of their nature. We should keep in our mind that these objects was born with a purpose, so we like to not ‘‘deform’’ them.
That is indeed the tricking question, keeping in mind the nature of these objects, they are books. How do you deal with the fact that there first purpose was to be read, and manipulated?
Looking through the history of curating, Germano Celant in 1972 for the great exhibition Book as artwork 1960-1972 choose transparent display cases for the books, and from then, in the following different exhibitions, it didn’t changed so much.
There are many factors that contribute to that choice, one of them probably was the chance of a robbery or the fact that when you manipulate them you could ruin the pages. So we came up with the idea that the best thing (but sometimes very difficult) is to have multiple copies of each book, so you can show different pages and give a better idea of the work.
Books were born to be read, but artists’ books were born to be seen.
Does L’Arengario Studio Bibliografico welcome researchers, Phd students, curators, artists, critics, etc.?
Sometimes it happens, but usually with friends or strict collaborators or curators and critics
In 2021, you decided to take a new path, the Bibliographic Studio remains, but you also are developing an editorial adventure, you just have created Tonini Studio. How does it come to your mind to develop this activity? And, even though it is maybe too soon to talk about it, what will be the main lead you’d like to follow (if there is one)?
Yes, I am now taking a parallel way with Tonini Editore, a publishing house that will be focused on contemporary art – in the sense of production of artist’s books, posters, editions and bibliographic books on artists and documents. This come up to my mind talking with my parents during a lunch, as we always do.
The main series will be Autobiography, from an idea of my father inspired by the famous book by Sol Lewitt with the same name, which consists in a monthly publications of artists’ books each time by different artists selected in company with a scientific committee of six people + me. Autobiography will have the same size, 17×12 cm, and graphic layout for the cover; is printed in 500 copies and the first number will be presented in november. In the meantime we are presenting a poster by Peter Downsbrough made with Loom Gallery in Milan and a series of three postcards by french artist Loubé Bertrand.