Valerio Toninelli was born in Pistoia on 19 February 1951. In the mid-Seventies, he began to take an interest in painting: first with an evident influence from the Tuscan Macchiaioli school, then delving into figurative experimentation linked to the description of social minorities.

His very personal path soon led him to abandon the figurative to enter an abstract world that he would never abandon and that, indeed, would be the place of further and more profound experimentation starting from the early Nineties: it was in this prolific period that the artist’s work was contaminated by the use of new and different materials, installed and shaped on the canvas in whirling but conscious movements. In the mid-nineties, however, he took a completely new path linked to sculpture. There have been many personal and collective exhibitions over the years, in Italy and beyond. Recently, the artist has attracted the interest of important oriental gallery owners, participating in the International Art Festival in the 798 district in Beijing and thus paving the way for new and important collaborations.