Robert Fones was born in London, Ontario on 10 March 1949. He was part of an active art scene in London associated with 20/20 Gallery, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1969. In 1973 he was a founding member of Forest City Gallery. He also designed the original tree-ring logo. Robert Fones has lived in Toronto since 1976. He first exhibited with Carmen Lamanna Gallery, then Sandra Simpson Gallery before joining Olga Korper Gallery in 2000. In his work Fones often combines elements from popular culture and design, such as packaging, pictograms and letterforms, with his investigations into geological, cultural, and industrial history. Fones works in a variety of media and has consistently explored a number of recurring themes: the ideologies embedded in the artifacts of cultural life, the invisible span of natural and cultural change, and the visual contradictions inherent in the two dimensional illusions of painting and photography. Fones has exhibited in Canada, the United States and Germany. In 1999 he received the Toronto Arts Award for Visual Art. He has taught at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto and in the Art & Art History program at Sheridan College. Artist books have featured prominently in his artistic production. He has published several books with Coach House Books and with Art Metropole including Anthropomorphiks (1971) Field Identification (1985) and Head Paintings (1997). Fones has also written extensively about art and design for publications such as C Magazine, Parachute, Vanguard, Ciel Variable, Canadian Art, and Azure Magazine.
Exhibitions
- 2024
Winter Group Exhibition
2023Six-Grid Paintings
2023Pattern Play
202350th Anniversary Group Show
2022It's Not Fair
2021Enchanted
2021Starting Over...Again
2020Art Toronto 2020
2019Contes en Trompe-l'oeil, Notes, Maxims
2014Robert Fones Solo Exhibition 2014
News Stories
Available Artworks
artwork detail
artwork detail
Nurnberger Lebkuchen 1-1, 2018
Robert Foneswatercolour on shopping bag 18.5” x 16” - paper 27.5” x 20.5” - framed
Nurnberger Lebkuchen 9-2, 2018
Robert Foneswatercolour in shopping bag 18.5” x 16” - paper 27.5” x 20.5” - framed
Nurnberger Lebkuchen 7-1, 2018
Robert Foneswatercolour on shopping bag 18.5” x 16” - paper 27.5” x 20.5” - framed
Nurnberger Lebkuchen 11-2, 2018
Robert Foneswatercolour on shopping bag 18.5” x 16” - paper 27.5” x 20.5” - framed
Nurnberger Lebkuchen 1-2, 2018
Robert Foneswatercolour on shopping bag 18.5” x 16” - paper 27.5” x 20.5” - framed
Nurnberger Lebkuchen 6-2, 2018
Robert Foneswatercolour on shopping bag 18.5” x 16” - paper 27.5” x 20.5” - framed
Enseigne de Gersaint, Figure 2, 2019
Robert Fonesacrylic on canvas mounted on panel 16 5/8” x 16 5/8”
Enseigne de Gersaint, Figure 3, 2019
Robert Fonesacrylic on canvas mounted on panel 16 5/8” x 16 5/8”
Enseigne de Gersaint, Figure 7, 2019
Robert Fonesacrylic on canvas mounted on panel 16 5/8” x 16 5/8”
Enseigne de Gersaint, Figure 12, 2019
Robert Fonesacrylic on canvas mounted on panel 16 5/8” x 16 5/8”
Right at the Highway 148, 2019
Robert Foneswatercolour on paper 21.5” x 67” - paper 24” x 69.25” - framed
thought you [triptych], 2019
Robert Foneswatercolour on paper 11” x 18.5” - each paper 13.25” x 20.75” - each framed
artwork detail
Kyrgyzstan Cross, 2019
Robert Fonesarchival ink jet print on Hahnemuhle paper, ed. of 5 24” x 24” - paper 31.25” x 29” - framed
Kyrgyzstan Seal, 2018
Robert Fonesarchival ink jet print on Hahnemuhle paper, ed. of 5 24” x 24” - paper 31.25” x 29” - framed
artwork detail
artwork detail
What You Don’t See Displayed, 2009
Robert Fonesback-lit transparency, ed. of 3 29.4” x 33.5” x 7.2”
