Paul Tonkin

biography

paintings 1975 - 1995

paintings 1996 - present

Paul Tonkin

Paul Tonkin was born in Southampton in 1951, studied at Canterbury College of Art, and moved to London in 1973 where he has since lived and worked. He was amongst the first group of painters to show alongside sculptors in the Stockwell Depot shows in the Seventies. In 1980 he had his first solo show at the Air Gallery, London, and was the youngest painter selected by John Hoyland to participate in the 1980 Hayward Annual. A Serpentine Summer Show followed in 1982, and since then he has shown in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including the Whitechapel Gallery, the Harlech Biennale, and Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. His work is represented in a number of private and corporate collections.


In 1994 Tonkin became a founder and director of the Art in Perpetuity Trust, moving to APT studios, Deptford. He is highly regarded as an authentic abstract colourist who has pursued an original and consistent vision in painting since first incorporating elements of certain of the Abstract Expressionist painters into his early work.