Born Sydney, Australia in 1970, 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 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.

Recent and forthcoming solo projects include:

Forthcoming, Uplands Gallery, Melbourne, Forthcoming, Le Lieu, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (2010), Post Colonial Cluster Fuck, (Collaboration with Trace Collective), Artspace, Sydney, Exasperations, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney (2009) Legacy (Biscuits, Boats and Bayonets), Trace Installaction Artspace, Cardiff, Wales, Difficult Pleasures, Uplands Gallery, Melbourne, Fat Corner (Buoys/Beuys), Sarah Cottier Gallery Sydney (2008)

Recent and forthcoming group projects include:

Grace Exhibition Space, Fountain Art Fair, Miami, Points d'impact, Piano Nobile, Geneva, Switzerland, Open Art Festival, Beijing, China, Cy and Dusty : Big Pinko (With Andre Stitt) Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, Off the Strip: Two Weeks of Performance and Video Art, Contemporary Arts Center, Las Vegas, NV, USA, 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) (All 2009), 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 and Bad Brains, South Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Adelaide ( All 2008)

Tony Schwensen is represented by:

Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney, Australia http://sarahcottiergallery.com/

Uplands Gallery, Melbourne, Australia http://www.uplandsgallery.com/