In 1959, Toni Costa was the founder of the Gruppo N in Padua, the core of the programmed and kinetic Italian art, along with Alberto Biasi, Manfredo Massironi, Edoardo Landi and Ennio Chiggio. Their proposed art was free of definitions and tendencies which were associated with other artists. These works of art were a combination of painting, sculpture, architecture and ‘industrial’ objects.

For the main part, their work was created collectively. The first piece of art which Toni Costa took part in was Nessuno è invitato a intervenire in 1960. The title represented a provocative ‘anti-invitation’ which asked the spectator to not take part in the manifestation. In 1961, the artist once again collaborated with Gruppo N for the work Art Abstrait Constructif International which was shown in the Galleria Denise Rene in Paris. Also in 1961 the group exhibited in Zagreb, in the Galerija Suvremene Umjetnosi, where the idea was born for le Nuove Tendeze. Here the first Dinamica Visuale was created, made of strips of PVC and these works are now featured in some of the most prestigious museums in the world.

In the same year (1961), the first personal piece of art by Toni Costa appeared in the Galleria Enne in Padova. In 1964 he exhibited at the Biennale in Venice and also at the Louvre in Paris. In 1965, Olivetti of Milano organized an exhibition entitled Arte Programmatain which Toni Costa featured, as well as in the Aspetti dell’arte italiana contemporanea in the National Modern Art Gallery in Rome in 1966. Some of the artist’s pieces were featured in the Waddel Gallery in New York and Galleria Barozziin Venice in 1969, and in the Galleria Lorenzelli in Milan in 1973.
The Gruppo N disbanded in 1967, however, Costa continued to create and exhibit his work until his death in 2013.
Sources include:
https://www.michelacattai.it/portfolio-item/toni-costa/