Born in 1970, lives and works in Boston.
Born Sydney, Australia, Tony Schwensen is one of Australia's foremost interdisciplinary artists. Paralleling political correctness and everyday experiences with artistic and cultural orthodoxies, Schwensen's interdisciplinary art practice examines the underside of cultural life, specifically the intersection of artistic values and economies of production and distribution. Schwensen's practice has always been dependent upon utilising the medium most appropriate for the concept, be it painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video or performance. Recent investigations have simultaneously combined performance, installation, wall texts, live feeds and video to explore the interrelational of temporality, site-specificity, labour, and socio-political situations.
He has maintained an active participation in contemporary art practice since 1988, regularly exhibiting nationally and internationally, been directly involved with establishing and running artist run initiatives , hosting international artists, providing exhibition opportunities and maintaining archives of documentation.
He is currently completing a PhD in Visual Arts at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, researching the influence and adaptation of the discipline specific investigations of Samuel Beckett on and into historic and contemporary videoperformance practice.
Tony Schwensen was awarded the Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship in 1998 which enable him to live and work in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from 1999-2001. He has received New Work Development Grants from the Australia Council in 1997 and 2003. He undertook a residency at The Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2007. His work has been exhibited and performed worldwide and written about in publications that include Artforum, Art Krush, Frieze, Art Monthly, Flash Art, Eyeline, Broadsheet, Art & Text, RealTime and Art and Australia.
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