Tony Schwensen

Biography

Born Sydney, Australia, 1970

Lives and works in Boston, United States of America

Education

2003

• Candidate, Ph.D., Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University

1997 

• Certificate in TESOL (Adult Teaching), Australian Catholic University

1991 

• Graduate Diploma of Visual Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University

1988-1990

• Bachelor of Arts (Art History and Criticism), University of Western Sydney, Nepean

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2010

• Now More Than Ever (Change Without Chaos), Uplands Gallery, Melbourne
• Regret, Remorse, Repent, Le Lieu, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

2009            

• Post Colonial Cluster Fuck, (Collaboration with Trace Collective), Artspace, Sydney; Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney 

2008

• Legacy, Trace Installaction Artspace, Cardiff, Wales
• Difficult Pleasures, Uplands Gallery, Melbourne
• Fat Corner (Buoys/Beuys), Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney

2007

• Rise, Artspace, Sydney
• Plowing Back, Collingwood House, Liverpool Regional Museum, Liverpool
• TransScandanavia, Downtown Artspace, Adelaide

2006

• Complain about Australia to an Australian, Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand

2005

• Level, Artspace, Sydney
• The Feel: DEMOOD, Uplands Gallery, Melbourne
• FATWHITESTRAIGHTBALDGUY, Videoperformance 1999-2005, The Performance Space, Sydney

2004

• Easy Conversions, Scott Donovan Gallery, Sydney
• Lag, Artspace, Sydney

2003

• Portable Table Dancing Shooting Gallery, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
• Errors of Judgement, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
• No Waugh, Front Room, Sydney

2002

• Border Protection Assistance, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Casula
• Border Protection Assistance, BLOCK, Sydney
• Aspiration Limitation Combination (After Rodin), 1st Floor, Melbourne

2001

• When Robert Pene Sat Next to Lucio Fontana, Briefcase, Sydney
• Ain’t Nothin But, BAD Projects, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Hamburger Boygroup, Galerie Philip McConchie, Monaco

2000

• Looking Homeward, Doolin Pier, Doolin, Ireland
• Clogged Up, BAD Projects, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

1999

• Water Problems, Project 11, Sydney
• Australia A, Artspace, Sydney

1998

• Australia A, Smith and Stoneley, Brisbane
• Australia A, CBD Gallery, Sydney

1997

• Australia A, CBD Gallery, Sydney
• Australia A, CBD Gallery, Sydney

1996

• Australia A, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Australia A, CBD Gallery, Sydney

1995

• Well Water Under a Tree (with Hany Armanious), David Pestorius Gallery, Brisbane
• Nearly, CBD Gallery, Sydney

1994

• Self-Imitating, CBD Gallery, Sydney
• Bloat (with Adam Cullen), CBD Gallery, Sydney
• Microphone Check, CBD Gallery, Sydney

1993

• Special Tourist Shoot, CBD Gallery, Sydney
• Fuzzy Pumpers Barber Shop (with Adam Cullen), Residence, Sydney
• Let me come over, CBD Gallery, Sydney
• Utterly Stupefied, Newtown McDonalds & Erskineville Railway Station
• Finesse, First Draft (WEST), Sydney

1992

• Mr Whippy, Bond Stores 3/4, Sydney
• Show Me, Part of Installed, Window, Sydney
• Now, First Draft (WEST), SydneySelected Actions (VP indicates Videoperformance made for camera)

Selected Actions (VP indicates Videoperformance made for camera)

2008

• Legacy (Biscuits, Boats and Bayonets) Trace, Cardiff, Wales
• Rocking in the Free World - Neil Young's Passport, Boston, USA, (VP)
• Relaxed and Comfortable - Lamentation (After Mantegna), Boston, USA, (VP)
• Difficult Pleasures III (Thirroul), Uplands Gallery Melbourne
• Fat Corner, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
• Fat Corner (Buoys/Beuys), Sydney, (VP)
• Difficult Pleasures II (Match Flare), Boston, USA
• Fundrazor, Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
• 10000 Rupiah, Solo City, Indonesia
• The Least I can Do, Bali, Indonesia
• Alien Nation (after Bertolt Brecht), Mobius and MFA, Boston USA

2007

• Seine Dip (Difficult Pleasures #1), Paris (VP)
• Harrowing Plows from the Plough and Harrow, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
• Rise, Artspace, Sydney
• Plowing Back, Collingwood House, Liverpool Regional Museum, Liverpool

2006

• Weighty Weight Wait , Versions 1, 2 and 3, Art Gallery of New South Wales (VP)
• Transscandanavia, Artspace, Sydney
• Xin Loi, 14th International Congress for Performance Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• VVV, 14th International Congress for Performance Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• C'Mon, ANTI Contemporary Art Festival, Kuopio, Finland
• Complain about Australia to an Australian, Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
• The Art of Watching (After Vermeer)- Thorpe's Feet, Pittman's Knee,
• Bradman's House, Schwensen's Arse, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne

2005

• The Statute, (With Steven Holland) Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Casula
• level, Sydney
• The Feel : DEMOOD, Melbourne
• Prelevelling, Manila, The Philippines
• Prelevelling : Degustation, Manila, The Philippines
• One for you and One for your dog, Sydney VP
• Straightening Up, Sydney VP
• Thinking About Manipulating a Fluorescent Tube, Sydney VP

2004

• Anthem -No Fun, Sydney VP
• Easy Conversions, Sydney VP
• Lag, Sydney

Selected Group Exhibitions

2010

• Infr'action International Performance Festival, Sete, France
• TAPS: Improvisations with Paul Burwell, Matt's Gallery, London
• Gestures and Procedures, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
• Basil Sellers Art Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
• Melbourne Art Fair, Uplands Stand, Exhibition Centre, Melbourne

2009

• Rising Tide: Film and Video Works from the Museum of Contemporary Art collection, Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, USA (Travelling to Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney)
• Terra Nullius, ACC Galerie, Weimar, Germany (traveling to Halle 14 of the Leipzig Baumwollespinnerei , Leipzig, Germany)

2008

• Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
• Navinki 10, Minsk , Belarus
• Melbourne Art Fair, Exhibition Centre, Melbourne
• Revolutions: Forms that Turn, Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
• Seamless: Object & Image, National Art School Gallery, Sydney
• Looking Out, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
• MAN - depicting contemporary masculinity, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
• Performance Art Laboratory Project (PALA Project) Bali, Indonesia
• Undisclosed Territories, Solo City, Indonesia.
• Contaminate 3, Midway Studios, Boston, USA
• Performanceregistraties #2, Sub Urban Video Lounge, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Mobilize , Mobius, Boston, USA
• Recent Graduates from Sydney College of the Arts, York University Gallery , Toronto, Canada
• Revolving Doors, Uplands Gallery, Melbourne
• Bad Brains, South Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Adelaide

2007

• New Art Dealers Alliance ,Ice Palace, Miami, USA
• Bad Brains, A little blah blah, Ho Ch Minh City, Vietnam
• Recent Graduates from Sydney College of the Arts, Novia Scotia College of Art and Design Gallery , Halifax, Canada
• Hauntings, (With Andre Stitt) Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown 
• Night Time #1, The Performance Space, Sydney 
• Yeah But No But, SNO, Sydney

2006

• Inport IV - International Video-Performance Art Festival, Tallin, Estonia

• Yours, Mine and Ours 50 Years of ABC TV, 
• Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
• Anne Landa Award for Moving Image and New Media, 
• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 
• En Accion, Zonadearte, Buenos Aries, Argentina,
• Tomorrow Again, Artspace, Sydney
• Someone shows something to someone, Canberra Contemporary Art Space
• 14th International Congress for Performance Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• ANTI Contemporary Art Festival, Kuopio, Finland
• Where Angels Tread, South Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Adelaide
• Play : Portraiture and Performance in Recent Video Art from Australia and NZ, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth
• +Plus Factors, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne

2005

• Artists against Sedition, (With Steven Holland), 
• Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Casula
• Play : Portraiture and Performance in Recent Video Art from Australia and NZ, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
• Art and About, Banner Project, City of Sydney
• UGNAYAN O5, The Philippines International Performance Art Festival, 
• Ateneo Art Gallery and University of the East, Manila, The Philippines
• New Acquisitions in Context, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
• Don't Look Now, Scott Donovan Gallery, Sydney
• National Sculpture Prize, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
• CTown Bling, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
• Placard Project, Mori Gallery, Sydney

2004

• Night Vision, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
• Yellow Pages, Musee d'Art Moderne et Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland
• Cycle Tracks Will Abound in Utopia, 
• Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
• Post Contemporary Painting, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
• Resistance through Ritual, Westspace, Melbourne
• Video Hits, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
• Surface Tension- The Artist in The Image, 
• Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney

2003

• Happy Hour , Briefcase, Sydney
• Front Room, Sydney
• Ten, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
• Yellow Pages, Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal, Switzerland
• Boofheads and Scrubbers Revenge, Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
• Yellow Pages, Turm Gallery , Helmstedt, Germany
• ART 34, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
• Impacts of War and Migration, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Casula
• Anywhere Now, Scott Donovan Gallery, Sydney
• The Armory Show, Sarah Cottier Gallery, New York, USA

2002

• It's hard to be human, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
• Westpac Redlands Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
• Attention Span, Freespace, Sydney
• Video/Film/Sound, Scott Donovan Gallery, Sydney
• Problems in Paradise, Scott Donovan Gallery, Sydney

2001

• Walkman, Briefcase, Sydney
• Techno Tots, Mori Gallery, Sydney
• Sunburn: New Art from Sydney, Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany
• Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand

2000

• Sydney! Vienna! Akademie der Bildende Kunst, Vienna, Austria

1999

• Australian Perspecta: Preamble, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

1998

• Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney
• Projection, 151 Regent St Gallery, Sydney
• Rough Trade, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart

1997

• Untitled, South, Sydney
• Sleep, South, Sydney
• Rough Trade, Tank, Cairns
• Untitled, 151 Regent St, Sydney
• Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney
• Australian Perspecta: Fibro, Casula Powerhouse, Casula
• Child Bride, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
• Sydney 1997, 1st Floor, Melbourne

1996

• Ocular, Pendulum, Sydney
• Techno, Tamworth City Art Gallery and Campbelltown City Art Gallery
• Road to Love, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
• Compost, Adelaide Festival, Adelaide
• It's a guitar shaped world two, Tamworth City Art Gallery, Tamworth

1995

• Art Hotline 1992 - 1995, The Performance Space, Sydney
• Magnetic Island, Mori Gallery, Sydney

1994

• Familiarity: Re-examining Australian Suburbia, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart
• Fresh Art, S.H.Ervin Gallery, Sydney

1993

• Burton Cullen Rowe Schwensen Shanks Williams, (RE), Adelaide
• On the table, Galerie Voge and Deisen, Frankfurt, Germany
• Residence #4, Newtown, Sydney
• Software, Selenium, Sydney
• Shirthead, Mori Annex, Sydney
• Rad Scunge, Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Melbourne
• Artlumni, Space Y/Z, Penrith

1992

• Light Sensitive, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand

1991

• First Draft 1985 - 1991, First Draft (WEST), Sydney
• 1991, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney
• Evatt Art Award, Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
• 1990 Am I or is Penrith far away?, Artspace, Sydney
• Graduation Exhibition, University of Western Sydney - Nepean

1989

• Introspecta, Street Level, Penrith
• Seconds, Street Level, Penrith
• The Miniature Show, Arthaus, Sydney

1988

• Shop Lifting is an Offence, Mosaic Performance Week, Street Level , Penrith

Publications

• Editors, A. Geczy, B. French and N Tsoutas, On Reason and Emotion 2004 Biennale of Sydney : Criticism Response and Thought, Artspace Visual Arts Centre, Sydney 2004 Pg 98
• Editor D. Broker, Photofile Issue 71, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney,2004, Pg 80
• Justene Williams , in 2004 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art catalogue, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Pg 44

Selected Bibliography

Angelouro, D. ‘What About Me’, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 February 2004.

Angelouro, D. ‘Begg to Differ’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 2005.

Angelouro, D. ‘Show Us Your Tassels’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 March 2005.

Angelouro, D. ‘Bling It On’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 July 2005.

Berghuis, T. J. 'Performance Art Beyond the Event', RealTime, no. 79, June-July 2007.

Bullock, N. ed. ‘Anne Landa Award’ (published catalogue), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006.

Chambers, N. ‘Video Hits’ (published catalogue), Queensland Art Gallery, 2004.

Chapman, C. ‘Anywhere Now’, Eyeline, Winter 2003.

Chapman, C. ‘Sydney Round Up’, Art Monthly, August 2002.

Chapman, C. ‘Videoperformance:Tony Schwensen in Sydney’, Art Monthly, no. 179, May 2005.

Chiu, M. ‘Level 2 Projects’, World Art, 1997.

Chiu, M. ‘Two Moods of Suburbia’, Artlink, 1997.

Curnow, B. ‘August’, Art and Text, no. 47, 1994.

Dean, A. ‘In Search of New Stars’, Sydney Morning Herald, June 6, 1994.

Dean, B. ‘Protesting Tyranny’, Testing the Law, no. 71, Feb.-Mar. 2006.

Dean, B. ‘A Desolation Too Real’, Real Time, no. 76, Dec. 2006-Jan. 2007.

Dean, C. ‘An Everyday Formalism’ (unpublished), 1994.

Emery, J. ‘Mapping Path through Suburbia’, The Advertiser, March 11, 1996.

Engberg, J. ‘Cycle Tracks Will Abound in Utopia’ (published catalogue), Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 2004.

Fenner, F. and A. Loxley, ‘Fresh Everyday’ (published catalogue), S. H. Ervin Gallery, 1994.

Fenner, F. ‘ Sphere of the Domestic’, Sydney Morning Herald, June 6, 1995.

Fenner, F. ‘ Redlands Art Prize’ (published catalogue), Mosman Art Gallery, 2002.

French, B. ‘FATWHITESTRAIGHTBALDGUY’ (published catalogue), The Performance Space, Sydney, 2005.

Fusinato, M. Ed. Circular no. 3, Sydney Issue, 1995.

Gallagher, J. ‘Rough Trade’ (published catalogue), Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart, 1998.

Gardiner, S. ‘The Ebb and Flow of Talk and Time’, Broadsheet, vol. 35, no. 3, 2006.

Gardner, A. ‘Anne Landa Award’ (published catalogue), ed. N. Bullock, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006.

Gardner, A. ‘NEW05’, Broadsheet, vol. 34, no. 2, June-Aug. 2005.

Gawronski, A. ‘Problems in Paradise’, Eyeline, Winter 2002.

Geczy, A. ‘Not So Fine Art’, Art Monthly, August 1998.

Geczy, A. ‘FATWHITESTRAIGHTBALDGUY, (published catalogue), The Performance Space, Sydney, 2005.

Gennochio, B. Ed. ‘POSTWEST’, artist’s page, 1999.

Gibson, J. ‘Beuys in the Hood’, Art and Text, no. 48, 1994.

Green, C. ‘Living Here Now’, Art and Australia, vol. 37, no. 3, Autumn 2000.

Higgins, J. ‘Re-Discovered Treasures’, State of the Arts, 16 Aug. 2005.

Hill, P. ‘Moonlighting for Jacks of All Trades’, The Australian, April 1998.

Hood, C. ‘Animal Archives’, Photofile, no. 45, 1995.

Hood, C. ‘Art Hotline 1992-1995’ (published catalogue), The Performance Space, Sydney, 1995.

James, B. ‘Man of Steel VS the Gumnut Baby’, Sydney Morning Herald, 1999.

Jenkins, K. ‘Is It Really All About Water?’ (published catalogue), Artspace, 1999.

Kelly, L. ‘Resistance Through Ritual’ (published catalogue), Westspace, Melbourne, 2004.

Loxley, A. and L. Havilah, ‘CTown Bling’ (published catalogue), Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, 2005.

Loxley, A. Art and About, banner project, City of Sydney, 2005.

Loxley, A. ‘Confronting the Stereotype’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 Aug. 2003.

Loxley, A. ‘Gems Behind the verbiage’, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 April 2003.

Loxley, A. ‘Redlands Prize Judges Spoil’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Oct. 2002.

Lumby, C. ‘Collecting Performance Art’, Australian Art Collector, 2001.

Lumby, C. ‘Would You Like Fries with That?’, Australian Style, Oct. 2001.

Markou, J. ‘Portable Table Dancing Shooting Gallery’ (published catalogue), 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 2003.

McDonald, J. ‘King Hit at Casula’, Sydney Morning Herald, May 1998.

Mendelssohn, J. ‘Borderlining and Sedition’, New Matilda, 14 December, 2005,http://www.newmatilda.com/home/articledetail.asp?ArticleID=1221.

Messham-Muir, K. ‘Fresh Art’, Eyeline, no. 25, 1994.

Michael, L. ‘Art and Politics, Living Here Now’ (published catalogue), 1999.

Nelson, R. ‘Cycle Tracks Will Abound in Utopia’, The Age, 31 Aug. 2004.

Ocampo, Y.M. ‘UGNAYAN 05: The Philippines International Performance Art Festival’ (published catalogue), Ateneo Art Gallery and University of the East, Manila, 2005.

O'Connell, S. ‘Australian Perspecta’, Frieze, no. 51, 2000.

O’Neill, J. ‘Tony Schwensen: The Art of Watching’, Eyeline, no. 60, 2006.

Parkes, B. ‘ Familiarity?’ (published catalogue), Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart, 1994.

Rankin-Reid, J. ‘Shirthead’, Art and Text, no. 46, 1993.

Schwensen, T. Yellow Pages, Ecart Publications, Geneva, 2003.

Sheedy, M. ‘For Art's Sake’, Elle, May 1998.

Smee, S. ‘Insight into Creatures of the Night’, The Australian, 18 Oct. 2004.

Smee, S. ‘Face Value’, The Australian, 23 April 2005.

Smee, S. ‘Capturing the Community’, The Australian, 16 July 2005.

Smee, S. ‘Spring Loaded’, The Australian, 17 September, 2005.

Spinks, J. ‘Familiarity?’, Art Monthly, Dec. 1994.

Strahan, L. ‘Dances With Irony’, The Age, Oct. 2003.

Taylor, E. ‘National Sculpture Prize’ (published catalogue), Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 2005.

Thomas, D.M. ‘Installed’ (published catalogue), Sydney, 1992.

Thomas, D.M. ‘Techno’ (published catalogue), Tamworth City Art Gallery and Campbelltown City Art Gallery, 1996.

Titmarsh, M. ‘Time and Tide’, Art Monthly, no. 160, June 2003.

Webb, V. ‘New Acquisitions in Context’ (published catalogue), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2005.

Walker, L.M. ‘Compost’, Broadsheet, 1996.

Ward, P. ‘Compost’, The Australian, 15 March 1996.

Zagala, S. ‘Post Contemporary Painting’ (published catalogue), Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2004.

Zepke, S. ‘Australian Perspecta’, Globe E Journal, no. 7, 1997.

Zepke, S. ‘Three at CBD’, Monica, Aug.-Sep. 1996.

Collections

• Estamps des arts Collection kabinet, Musee d'Art Moderne et Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland; 
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
• Gallery of New Art, Hobart, Australia
• Private Collections Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, New Zealand

Awards and Prizes

• 1991 Highly Commended, Evatt Art Award, Penrith Regional Gallery
• 1991 Pat Corrigan Artists Grant, NAVA
• 1997 New Work Development Grant, Visual Arts Fund, Australia Council
• 1997 Highly Commended, Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship
• 1998 Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, NSW Ministry for the Arts
• 2003 New Work Development Grant, Visual Arts Fund, Australia Council
• 2003-2006 University Postgraduate Award, University of Sydney
• 2004 Postgraduate Research Support Scheme, University of Sydney 
• 2005 Postgraduate Research Support Scheme, University of Sydney 
• 2005 Grant-In-Aid, Postgraduate Research, University of Sydney
• 2008 Faculty Travel Grant, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• 2008 Faculty Travel Grant, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• 2008 Faculty Enrichment Grant, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston