In my art practice I am interested in discovering transmuted spaces, places where energy shifts, changes, or renews itself. Through an exploration of the interstices between opposing elements such as nature and artifice, chaos and order, I wish to explore entropic systems where healing may occur. I want my audience to be confronted by a raw sense of what it means to be alive.
Tobias ToveraBorn in Sacramento, California
Lives and works in Yucca Valley, California
Selected Solo Exhibitions:2022, Elemental, Slate Contemporary Gallery, Oakland, CA
2018, Morphē, SJCC Gallery, San Jose, CA
2018, Permutation, Bank of America Tower, San Francisco, CA
2017, Oceanus, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2016, Uncharted Terrain, Local Language Art, Oakland, CA
2016, Morphosis, Peralta Studios, Oakland, CA
2014, Hermetica, Peninsula Museum of Art, Burlingame, CA
2013, Transmutation, PAI Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013, Life Forms, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009, Transmutation Unfolding, 555 California St. Plaza Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005, The Medicine of Space, Melting Point Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003, New Work, Akimbo Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2001, Substance, North Gallery, CCA, Oakland, CA
2000, Deliverance, Ortiz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999, Soul Impressions, CCA, Tecoah and Thomas Galleries, San Francisco, CA
1999, Façade, Midtown Mosaic, Sacramento, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions:2023, Crystalline, Mojave Desert Studio, Yucca Valley, CA
2023, Highway 62 Collective Art Exhibition, Twenty-Nine Palms Art Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, CA
2023, Greater Joshua Tree Art Expo, Juried exhibition, JT Gallery of Contemporary Art, Yucca Valley, CA
2023, Seattle Art Fair, Slate Contemporary Gallery, Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
2023, Art Market San Francisco, Slate Contemporary Gallery, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
2023, Joshua Tree Art Gallery, Super Bloom, Joshua Tree, CA
2022, Joshua Tree Art Gallery, HWY 62 Art Tours, Joshua Tree, CA
2022, Ripples, UC Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, CA
2022, Art Market San Francisco, Slate Contemporary Gallery, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
2021, Elements of Nature, SBHG Gallery, Cornerstone, Sonoma, CA
2021, Summer Color, SBHG Gallery, Cornerstone, Sonoma, CA
2020, Alumni Artists-in-Residence Exhibition, Lucid Art Foundation, Inverness, CA
2020, Annual Artists-in-Residence Exhibition, Lucid Art Foundation, Inverness, CA
2020, AAF, Spring Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2020, eARTh, Bankhead Gallery, Livermore, CA
2019, AAF, Fall Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2019, Portal, Collaborative site-specific installation, artist talk, NES, Skagaströnd , Iceland
2019, Altered States, Marin Community Foundation, Novato, CA
2019, AAF, Spring Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2018, AAF Singapore, State of the Arts Gallery, Singapore, Malaysia
2018, Invisible Light, Artist Talk, Betti Ono Gallery, Oakland, CA
2018, Root Division's 17th Annual Art Auction, Root Division Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018, AAF, Fall Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2018, Art for AIDS Art Auction Benefit, City View at the Metreon, San Francisco, CA
2018, AAF, Summer Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2018, Invisible Light, Ark Project, CAS, Bahia Salvador, Brazil
2018, AAF, Spring Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2017, AAF, Fall Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2017, Art for AIDS Art Auction Benefit, City View at the Metreon, San Francisco, CA
2017, Root Division's 16th Annual Art Auction, Root Division Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017, A'DAM International Art Fair, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017, Origin, Ark Project, Oakland, CA
2016, AAF, Winter Art Fair, JCOs Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2016, DIFFASF, 'Shine,' NWBLK Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016, Root Division's 15th Annual Art Auction, Root Division Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016, Symbiosis, Ark Project, Oakland, CA
2016, The Alchemist, Root Division Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015, Root Division's 14th Annual Art Auction, Root Division Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015, DIFFASF, NWBLK Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015, Bang!, Bass & Reiner Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014, Be My Guest, Galerie EGP, Paris, France
2014, Suite Works, Museum of Contempoary Art Georgia, Atlanta, GA
2014, Root Division's 13th Annual Art Auction, San Francisco, CA
2014, Wabi Sabi, Impermanence, imperfection and the accidental, Alter Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014, 40 and Under, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2014, Fourth Strike, 100 Performances for the Hole, SomArts, San Francisco, CA
2014, Happy, JCO Gallery, Los Gatos, CA
2013, 13th Annual Art Auction, SomArts, San Francisco, CA
2013, Faith, Gallery 85, San Jose, CA
2013, Permutation Unfolding, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2013, Animate Objects, Sacred Door Gallery, Venice, CA
2012, Third Strike, 100 Performances for the Hole, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
2012, Wix SF, Root Division Exhibit, San Francisco, CA
2011, Corporate Showroom Exhibit, Conde House, San Francisco, CA
2010, Japan Benefit, Arttitud, San Francisco, CA
2010, Versace Launch Event, Roche Bobois, San Francisco, CA
2010, 3rd Annual Art Opening, Barber Lounge, San Francisco, CA
2009, SFS Benefit for the De Young Museum of San Francisco, CA
2009, Fortuitous Moments, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008, Bridge Art Fair, Catalina Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
2008, Compass!, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007, Art Fair Now, Claremont Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
2007, Salon d'Ete 2007, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006, Raw Egg, Nature Theatre, Yugen Presents, San Francisco, CA
2006, Moksha, Nature Theatre, The Milk Bar International Film Festival, Oakland, CA
2006, Breaking Point, Nature Theatre, SOMarts, San Francisco, CA
2005, Nova Express, Nature Theatre, Counterpulse, San Francisco, CA
2004, How Can You Resist, 9th Biennial Festival of New Media, Los Angeles, CA
2004, Uncharted Terrain, Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA
2004, 3rd Annual Tiburon International Film Festival, Tiburon, CA
2002, Delirium, A Symposium of Film and Video Art, W Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Bibliography:2020, Stay in Studio Project, Interview, Peter Foucault, (August, 100 California Artists, Shelterinstudio.org)
2020, Meditation & Engaging viewers with the Forces of Nature, Alina Young, (May, Artelier.com)
2020, Tobias Tovera on Elements, Alchemy, & Earth Minerals, Alina Young, (April, Artelier.com)
2020, The Visual Alchemy of Tobias Tovera, Mark Levy, Morphosis Catalogue Essay, (January, p.46-50)
2019, Artist Walls, Artelier, 2019 Catalogue, (October, p.398-417)
2017, American Artwork, Tom Palmer, 2018 Issue, (September, p.231)
2015, Art Voices, Bill Sasser, Permutation, Winter Issue, (January, p.120-121)
2014, Studio Journal Knock, Isao Nishiyama, The Holy Flower, Issue 2, (July, p.77-89)
2013, The SF Chronicle, Kenneth Baker, Memory, Color as a Framework, (August 10 p.2)
2013, The Collective Snap Shot, Natasha Guterres, The Collective Magazine, (USA September Issue p.4)
2013, Transmutation, Alexander Farrow, These Hands and Eyes are not Two, Exhibition Essay, October)
2013, Permutation Unfolding, Victoria Gannon, Catalogue Essay, (March p.1)
2013, Root Division 10-Year Anniversary Catalogue, (April, p.98)
2012, Studio Visit Magazine, Drew Katz, Volume Sixteen, (January, p.208)
2011, MFA Now, Juried Exhibition Catalogue, (February, p.150)
2009, Fortuitous Moments, Victoria Gannon, Catalogue Essay, (March p.1-2)
2008, Bridget Art Fair Miami, Micaela Gallery, Catalogue Statement, (April p.1)
2005, The Medicine of Space, Leigh Markopoulos, Catalogue Essay, (November, 27 p.1-2)
2002, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Dolcinea Gonzales, Art, (October, 23-30 p. 86)
2001, The Oakland Tribune, Frosene Philips, Art and Entertainment, (September, 9-10 p.34)
2000, SF Weekly, Anne Marie Mastandrea, San Francisco Art Review (March, 20-25, p.104)
Education:2011, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California, Painting
2002, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, California, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture
Residency Awards:2021, Yucca Valley Material Lab, a creative platform comprised of intensive artist residencies, instructional workshops and public art event programs. Yucca Valley, CA
2019, Lucid Art Foundation, a foundation established to support artists who explore the concepts of arts and consciousness. Inverness, CA
2019, NES, a process-oriented residency that strives to cultivate an environment where artists can craft their experience through conceptual development, research, intervention and experimentation. Skagaströnd, Iceland
2018, CAS, Casa de Artes Sustentáveis, a community art space devoted to the sustainability of artistic projects, supporting the networks of cultural production and alternative entrepreneurship of the city of Salvador. Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
2016, Local Language Art, a creative hub and fabrication studio that sources talent, promotes artistic thought, and produces unique custom art programs. Oakland, CA
2015, Ark Project, (founded) an international artist residency program centered around the co-creation process. The programs mission is to promote intercultural dialogue and artist mobility. Oakland, CA
2013, Performance Art Institute, a multifaceted art space dedicated to performance art and issues that matter in our society and culture. San Francisco, CA
2012, Root Division, a community arts and education organization in San Francisco, CA
Biography:Tobias Tovera is an American visual artist whose work explores the intersection of nature, art and consciousness. Using materials subject to metamorphism, Tovera seeks to discover what he calls “transmuted spaces,“ places where energy can shift, change, or renew itself, by experimenting with alchemical processes. From the diffusion of mineral pigments to the permutation of base metals, his work reveals the connection between the physical, metaphysical, and elemental realms, through which new forms are created. Tovera’s process is an attempt to capture physical and psychic topographies, informed by the way certain materials interact, transform, and self-organize. Each layer that is formed, each element introduced, is part of an intuitive movement between the artist and the materials themselves: a performative ritual that embodies the meditative state.
Tobias Tovera was born in Sacramento, California and studied at the California College of the Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in the United States, Asia and Europe, and is part of numerous private, public, and corporate collections. During the course of his career Tovera has developed two bodies of work in painting and a series of sculptures. His new work investigates the interplay between his paintings and his sculptures and how they inform each other. Tobias lives and works in the Mojave Desert of Southern California, and is the founder of the Ark Project, an international artist residency program. He has been awarded residencies at Lucid Art Foundation, Root Division, and Local Language Art and has been published in American Artwork, Studio Journal Knock, Studio Visit, and Art Voices Magazine.
'We expect art to give us a sense of connection to the world and ourselves. We expect nature to give us the same thing. Tovera’s work, in its embrace of entropy and fluidity, its references to and imitation of the natural world, plays on this parallel set of expectations. Are his paintings nature or art? Maybe they are both.'
-Victoria Gannon
Selected Public & Corporate Collections:
Marriot Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Hilton Hotel, Los Cabos, Mexico
Chinachem Hollywood Centre, Central, Hong Kong
Victory Harbour, North Point, Hong Kong
Giant Mountain, Taichung City, Taiwan
Fairmont Empress, Victoria, BC, Canada
Stanton Hospital, Yellowknife, NT, Canada
Kaiser Permanente, Salmon Creek, Vancouver, Washington
Hyatt Regency, Chicago, Illinois
Bank of America Tower, Chicago, Illinois
Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
The Alexandria, Torrey Pines, San Diego, California
Renaissance Newport Beach Hotel, Newport Beach, California
Grand Hyatt at SFO, San Francisco, California
Delta Dental, Oakland and San Francisco offices, California
Hotel Zoe, San Francisco, California
Charles River Associates, Oakland, California
Shutterfly Headquarters, Redwood City, California
Montage Healdsburg, Healdsburg, California
Six 50 Live Apartments, Menlo Park, California
AC Hotel, Bentonville, Arizona
The Westin Galleria Houston, Houston, Texas
Hilton Tapestry Collection, Basalt, Colorado
Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, Aurora, Colorado
Timbers Bachelor Gulch, Beaver Creek, Colorado
Hilton West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Florida
The Westin Sarasota, Sarasota, Florida
Norwegian Cruise Line, Vista, Miami, Florida
Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas, London, United Kingdom
Donna Karan Cosmetics Company, New York, New York
Berluti, Paris, France
Selected Private Collections:
Virginia Japp, Sutherland, Australia
Nicholas Bletsas, Richmond, Australia
Helena Sosnowska, Melboune, Australia
Amy-Lee Sunman, Christchurch, New Zealand
Kevin Contzen, Vancouver, Canada
Jason and Rachel Adler, New York, NY
Evelyn Lee, New York, NY
Julie DeMaio, Brooklyn, NY
Sarah Carson Cloud, Brooklyn, NY
Leota LLC, Brooklyn, NY
Sheri West, New Canaan, CT
Erin Surette, Baltimore, MD
Alexander Scheeler, Towson, MD
Lori Tsuruda, Boston, MA
Desiree Spinner, Osterville, MA
Emily Eland, Atlanta, GA
Kathleen Mones, Milton, GA
Gena Casagrande, Leesburg, VA
Paul Martin, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Jenna Papesh, Orlando, FL
Julie Maskulka, Chicago, IL
Chris Keating, Minneapolis, MN
Sophie Derrickson, Wilson, WY
Kerry Miller, Austin, TX
Kristina Wilson, Houston, TX
Laurel Gandler, Houston, TX
Meredith Beau, Little Rock, AZ
Meredith Beau, Portland, OR
Jason and Allison Bowes, Portland, OR
Sarah Bielski, Lake Oswego, OR
Illana Sparrow, Los Angeles, CA
Saree Silverman, Los Angeles, CA
Dalton Robertson, Los Angeles, CA
Mona Pouratian, Los Angeles, CA
Meryl Zwanger, San Diego, CA
Suzanne Obst, San Francisco, CA
Amy Thorne, San Francisco, CA
Jennifer Trahan, San Franciso, CA
Jonathan Deason, San Francisco, CA
Mirsada Kurtovic, San Francisco, CA
Markus Hawkins, San Francisco, CA
Genevieve Palogan and Jack Burrows, San Francisco, CA
Shay Gilmore and Mark de La Rosa, San Francisco, CA
Tonny Tully and Kent Johnson, San Francisco, CA
Rosemarie and Aldo Leonardi, San Francisco, CA
Brian and Kourtney Parry, San Francisco, CA
Mark A. Hagopian, San Francisco, CA
Shah Nagree, San Francisco, CA
Hermann Hans, San Francisco, CA
Christopher William Null, San Francisco, CA
Scott Morris and David Sawyer, Sebastopol, CA
Michael and Jessica Yee, Marin, CA
Sydney Rainin, San Anselmo, CA
Reiner Mim, Mountain View, CA
Gillian and John Martin, Menlo Park, CA
John and Suzanne Pinheiro, Santa Cruz, CA
Mei Su, Atherton, CA
Karllyn Neel, Oakland & Indian Wells, CA
Breanne Schaap, Visalia, CA
Mike Swager, Sacramento, CA
Lorraine Blanco, Sacramento, CA
Amber Brewer, Sacramento, CA
