Chasing TONA’s Street Art

Obsession (noun): an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.
Obsession knows no logic or reason. You encounter something interesting and you can’t get it out of your head. That’s the subject of this article: My obsession with street artist TONA’s work.

Well, calling it an obsession might be an exaggeration but I sure am fascinated by his art. It’s sort of my personal treasure hunt. From Delhi to Pondicherry, his work is scattered all across India. MISTER TONA [that’s what he likes to himself] is a self-taught German stencil artist who travels across the world and leaves behind interesting artworks in obscure corners of the streets.

WHEN I FIRST SPOTTED TONA

The first time I came across his art was back in 2014, during India’s very first Street Art Festival in Delhi. The narrow lanes of Hauz Khas and Shahpur Jat were used as a canvas by street artists from all across the globe. For some reason, I was quite fascinated by TONA’s work, mainly because of his simple yet unique style.

HIS CANVAS: Worn out walls, rustic gates, electricity boxes, and poles.
HIS STYLE AND SIGNATURE: Monochromatic stencil art showing happy Indian kids.

WHERE ELSE HAVE I SPOTTED TONA

After Delhi, I spotted his work in many different cities, and that too in very unexpected places.

PONDICHERRY

GOKARNA, KARNATAKA

KOCHI, KERALA

ALLEPPEY, KERALA

PANJIM, GOA

A few months back, I started noticing those familiar happy Indian kids’ faces at so many different spots in Goa itself.

NEPAL

A friend of mine and a fellow blogger, who is well aware of my obsession with TONA’s work, was traveling in Nepal recently and spotted his art at several places.