Tom Polo uses painting and painted environments to explore how conversation, doubt and gesture are embodied acts of portraiture. Frequently incorporating text and figurative elements, his works draw upon acute observations, absurdist encounters, personal histories and imagined personas. An ongoing interest across his practice is the emotional and performative relationships between people within social, theatrical and psychological space.
Polo explores this space with his characters, oddballs and misfits, whose bodies are submerged within a surface of swirling layers of paint, varied brushstrokes and painting techniques that create a complex surface plane where foreground and background appear to merge, melting from one state into the next. Lingering on a threshold of presence and absence, what is painted in and what is painted out, Polo’s figures, — looming characters — are both revealed and concealed creating a surface tension that draws attention to the spaces in-between.
Polo was a finalist of the Archibald and Sulman prizes at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2018 and awarded the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2015. He completed residencies at Parramatta Artists’ Studios Rydalmere, Sydney (2019-20); Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy (2018); Art Space, Sydney (2017); the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2016) and ACME Studios, London (2016). His work has been included in several group exhibitions in Australia and internationally and placed in public and private collections in Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Tom Polo, remember the end (balancing act), 2022, acrylic, Flashe and wax pastel on canvas, 213 x 198 cm
Tom Polo, watch and witness, 2021, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 198 x 213 cm
Installation View, Video Commissions, 2022 Ngununggula (17 December 2022 - 12 March 2023) Photo: Zan Wimberley
Installation View, Free/State, 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art (4 March– 5 June 2022), Photo: Paul Steed
Installation View, Free/State, 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art (4 March– 5 June 2022), Photo: Paul Steed
Exhibition view, Tom Polo, I still thought you were looking, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (18 April – 13 May 2019)
Tom Polo, see you see through (totally transparent), 2018, acrylic, Flashe and acrylic spray on canvas, 183 x 137 cm
Tom Polo, Navigate Elsewhere, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 183 x 137 cm
Installation view, Tom Polo, group exhibition, Primavera 2017: Young Australian Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (23 August – 19 November 2017)
Installation view, group exhibition, Looking at me through you, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney (27 May – 23 July 2017)
Installation view, Tom Polo: What Goes on Here, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2 March – 13 March 2016)
Installation view, Tom Polo: I still thought you were looking, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney (18 April – 13 May 2019)
Tom Polo, fear of intimacy (hibiscus hand), 2020, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 182 x 138 cm
Tom Polo, watch and wait (angel ears), 2020, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 198 x 213 cm
Group Show, The First 40 Years
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2024
Tom Polo somewhere on the edge of you
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2023
Free/State
Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, 2022
Tom Polo linger
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2021
Group Show, A Painting Show
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2020-21
Group Show, Contact Us
Coment Fondu, Sydney, 2020
Tom Polo I still thought you were looking
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2019
Tom Polo The National 2019: New Australian Art
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2019
Group Show, Looking at me through you
Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, 2017
Tom Polo With precious actions these vibrant outcomes
Roche Head Office Commission, Sydney, 2017
Tom Polo What Goes on Here
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2016
Tom Polo But how are you otherwise
Artspace, Sydney, 2015
Tom Polo GESTURES AND MISTAKES
Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, 2012
Tom Polo
Born 1985 Sydney, Australia
Lives and works in Sydney
EDUCATION
Masters of Fine Arts (Research) - College of Fine Arts, UNSW
Bachelor of Fine Arts - Painting (Honours Class 1) - College of Fine Arts, UNSW
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
somewhere on the edge of you, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
tricky mirror, STATION, Melbourne, Australia
soft secrets, Art on Paper, Galerie Transit, Brussels, Belgium
will you, fill me, Yavuz Gallery, Singapore
linger, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
stains, stages, strangers, STATION, Melbourne
exit strategy, STATION, Melbourne
I still thought you were looking, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
It’s all a costume though you see, STATION, Melbourne
of defence and doubt, Galerie Transit, Mechelen, Belgium
(These things) tell me more about you, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington
Emotional Patrol, STATION, Melbourne
Recent Positions, STATION, Melbourne
What Goes On Here, Tom Polo for Spectrum Now, Art Gallery of New South Wales
The fool faces sideways, STATION, Melbourne, VIC
Even the best of us, STATION at Spring 1883, The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne
Spring 1883, The Hotel Windsor, STATION, Melbourne
Ways, KALIMANRAWLINS, Melbourne
Many Hands, West Space, Melbourne
Future Figurative (New Personas), Gallery 9, Sydney
GESTURES AND MISTAKES, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
DISAPPOINTED WITH EVERYTHING (It Happens), GRANTPIRRIE, Redfern
DISAPPOINTED WITH MANY PEOPLE & THINGS, ACME Project Space, London, UK
Hit & Miss, Parramatta Artists Studios, Parramatta, NSW
The 2009 B.E.S.T Contemporary Art Prize, MOP, Sydney
CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN, GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney
One-Liner or Suggestions for Conversation in Social Situations, Firstdraft, Sydney
An Excessive Aesthetic, Firstdraft, Sydney
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Thin Skin, curated by Jennifer Higgie, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia
Video Commission, Ngununggula, New South Wales, Australia
Go Figure: The Germanos Collection, curated by Euan Macleod, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
Vibrations in Australian Drawing, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
Spacingout, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Frieze Seoul, STATION Melbourne
The Armoury Show, New York, Yavuz Gallery Singapore
Art SG, Yavuz Gallery Singapore
Taipei Dangdai, Yavuz Gallery Singapore
Art Basel Hong Kong Yavuz Gallery Singapore
Making Worlds, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
SPACE 22 Exhibition and Fundraiser, Artereal Gallery, Sydney
FREE/STATE, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, curated by Sebastian Goldspink, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Blue Island, Byron Bay School of Art, Byron Bay
Expanded Canvas, Town Hall Gallery, Victoria
Ten Year Show, STATION Gallery, Melbourne
Ramsay Art Prize, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
A Painting Show, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Contact Us, Cement Fondu, Sydney
Sydney Contemporary, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
The National, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
The Whiteley at 20: Twenty Years of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Art Brussels 2019, Galerie Transit, Mechelen, Belgium
Beyond Reason: exploring the logic of the imagination, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
WORD, Hugo Michell, Adelaide
Meditation on a bone: Albert Tucker beyond the modern, curated by Glenn Barkley, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
Melbourne Art Fair, STATION, Melbourne
Primavera 2017: Young Australian Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Masters of Three Worlds, COMA, Sydney
'Looking at Me Through You', Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
Painting, More Painting, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
Narratives, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Green Eyed Monster Eating Its Own Tail, Art Month Sydney
NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging) Exhibition, Artspace, Sydney
STATION at Spring 1883, The Establishment, Sydney
BWTAS Finalists’ Exhibition, Brett Whiteley Studio, Sydney
Che Cosa, Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong, NSW
West Space Annual Fundraiser, West Space, Melbourne
Façade, Parramatta Artists Studios at Artereal Gallery, Rozelle, NSW
Glazed and Confused, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney
Art Bar curated by Lara Thoms, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
The List, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, NSW
Ready Player One, Station, Melbourne
Contemporary Fiction, Breezeblock, Sydney
Art & Australia Collection 2003-13, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney
The NSW Visual Arts Fellowship for Emerging Artists, Artspace, Sydney
Face Off, Wellington St Projects, Sydney
Sedition, BUS Projects, Melbourne
Extended Operations, KALIMANRAWLINS, Melbourne
As Above, So Below, MOP Projects, Sydney
Uncertain Pastures: Matthew Hopkins and Tom Polo, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne
Time & Vision: New work from Australian Artists, The Bargehouse, London, UK
Facial (with Matthew Hopkins & Mary McDougall), TCB Art Inc, Melbourne
As Above, So Below, Alaska Projects at Good Children Gallery, New Orleans, US
Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney
I was here, The Lockup Cultural Centre, Newcastle, NSW
Trophy Wife, curated by Sarah Jones, Death Be Kind, Melbourne
For The Lulz, Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, Sydney
Dot Dot Dot, curated by Lisa Radford, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore, NSW
Friends, TCB Art Inc, Melbourne
Campbelltown Arts Centre Project Room, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne
Breadcrumb Winner, PLATFORM, Melbourne
SafARI, curated by Lisa Corsi and Danielle Hairs, Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney
No Right Turn, Penrith Regional Gallery and Lewers Bequest, Penrith
Territorial Pissings, Utopian Slumps Gallery, Melbourne
I AM THE MESSAGE, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore, NSW
Why do we do the things we do, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth
No Identifiable Culture, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
This is what the edge of your seat was made for, Boxcopy, Brisbane
Current: Sculpture Projects in the River City, Parramatta, Sydney
The Year of the Bird, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery
Laith McGregor, Tom Polo, Emily Portmann, Jackson Slattery, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney
Winners are Grinners (December Show), Gallery 9, Sydney
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
It’s funny, like HA-HA funny, January Artbar, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW
There’s a hole in the sky, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, Sydney
Anything, Everything and One Other Thing (Parts 1-5), ALASKA Projects, Kings Cross, Sydney
YES I CAN/NO CAN DO, Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown, Sydney
I’m worse at what I do best, Parramatta Artists Studios, Sydney, Sydney
AWARDS, GRANTS, PRIZES AND RESIDENCIES
Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Victoria (finalist)
Shark Island Kangaroo Valley Residency, Upper Kangaroo Valley, NSW
2022 National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery’, Victoria
Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (finalist)
Ramsay Art Prize, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (finalist)
Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (finalist)
Parramatta Artists' Studios, Parramatta, Sydney
Palazzo Monti Residency, Brescia, IT
Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (finalist)
Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney (finalist)
Art Space residency, Sydney
Cité Internationale des Arts residency, Paris
ACME Studios residency, London
Creative Fellowship Fund, Parramatta City Council, NSW, (winner)
The NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging), Artspace, Sydney (finalist)
Brett Whiteley Traveling Scholarship (winner)
The Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, National Art School, Sydney (winner)
Parramatta Artists Studios, Parramatta, Sydney
The NSW Visual Arts Fellowship for Emerging Artists (finalist)
Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards – Visual Arts (finalist)
John Fries Memorial Art Prize (finalist)
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, (finalist)
Hazelhurst Art on Paper, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery (finalist)
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship (highly commended)
Art & Australia/ Credit Suisse Private Banking Contemporary Art Award (winner)
Australia Council for the Arts Skills & Development Grant - London Studio Residency
Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney (finalist)
The Lockup Cultural Centre, Newcastle, Sydney
QANTAS Spirit of Youth Award - Visual Arts (finalist)
Fishers Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown (finalist)
Parramatta Artists Studios, Parramatta, Sydney
Australia Council for the Arts Skills & Development Grant - London Studio Residency
Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) for Postgraduate study, College of Fine Arts, UNSW
Fishers Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown (finalist)
The 2009 SMAC Awards, hosted at Gallery Barry Keldoulis (finalist)
The Blake Prize for Religious Art, The Blake Society, National Art School, NSW (finalist)
Queen Street Studios at Fraser Studios, Chippendale, Sydney
Fishers Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Arts Centre (finalist)
Churchie National Emerging Artist Exhibition, (finalist)
Parramatta Artists Studios, Parramatta, Sydney
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Justin Paton, ‘Tom Polo,’ in The National: New Australian Art, 2019, pp. 130-131. Exhibition Catalogue
Eugene Yiu Nam Cheung, 'Ways of Seeing - Tom Polo,' Artist Profile, no. 48, 2019, p. 84-89
Tom Polo – Paris Drawings: The Most Elaborate Disguise, Perimeter Books, 2019
‘Artists use text in Word’, Art Guide Australia, Zara Sigglekow
‘Critic’s Guide: Sydney’, Frieze, Sarinah Masukor
Pesa, M., ‘Tom Polo: Emotional Patrol’, Art Almanac, July
Preston, S., ‘Get to know Tom Polo,’ Broadsheet Sydney, March, https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/art-and-design/article/studio-visit-tom-polo
Forrest, N., ‘Tom Polo wins 2015 Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship,’ BLOUIN ARTINFO, http://au.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1216935/tom-polo-wins-2015-brett-whiteley-travelling-art-scholarship
Rugendyke, L., ‘Artist Tom Polo wins 2015 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship,’ Sydney Morning Herald, https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/artist-tom-polo-wins-2015-brett-whiteley-travelling-art-scholarship-20150813-giyjac.html
Forrest, N., ‘Vernon Ah Kee and Tom Polo Win 2014 Redlands Art Prize,’ BLOUIN ARTINFO Australia
Galvin, N., ‘Tom Polo eavesdrops for arts sake,’ Sydney Morning Herald
Miller, C., ‘50 Things Collectors Need To Know (Cool Hunter Predictions)’, Art Collector Magazine
O’Sullivan, J., ‘Spring 1883 is the enticing boutique art fair down under,’ Artnet, http://news.artnet.com/market/spring-1883-is-the-enticing-boutique-fair-down-under-79214
Raschella, ‘A. Installation Art Comes to South-West Sydney’, ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-04/installation-art-comes-to-south-western-sydney/5790918?nw=0
Barkley, G. ‘Emerge Profiles: Tom Polo,’ Artist Profile Magazine, 2013, Issue 23, pp 48 – 51
Britton, K. ‘Review: Tom Polo, Future Figurative,’ Raven Contemporary, 2013
Frost, A. ‘An Artist Walks Into A Bar,‘ Art Guide Australia, 2013, http://artguide.com.au/articles-page/show/an-artist-walks-into-a-bar
Frost, A. The A-Z of Contemporary Art, ABC Television, Australia. First Aired, 12 June 2013
Frost, A. ‘What makes us connect with an artist?’, Australian Culture - The Guardian, 22 July 2013
Rule, D., ‘In the galleries,’ The Age, 24 August 2013, https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/your-weekend-in-the-galleries-20130823-2sfqe.html
Stanton, E. ‘Great Western Drawing, Runway’, An Australian Contemporary Art, 2013
Magazine, Issue 16: Disappearance, 2013, 86 - 89
Gibb, S. ‘Art & Australia/Credit Sussie Private Banking Contemporary Art Award,’ Art & Australia magazine, 2012, Volume 49 No. 4
McSpeeden, S. ‘S&M,’ Un Magazine, 2012, Issue 6.1, 82-87
Rule, D. , In The Galleries,’ The Age, Melbourne, Feb 11, 2012
Bentley, S., ‘Tom Polo,’ New Planes, issue 1, 2011
Rolfe. D, ‘People to watch,’ the (sydney) magazine - Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 27, 2011, 42
Stein, M., ‚Polo Opposites,’ The Blackmail, April 2011
Walcott, R., ‘Tom Polo: A portrait of the artist,’ October 2011
Frost, A. ‘What’s next?’, Australian Art Collector, October 2010, pg 124-125
Lerkenfeldt, L. ’Tom Polo interview,’ Un Magazine, Issue 4.1, July 2010
Lopes, S. ‘Perspective: Steve Lopes on Failure,’ Artist Profile, Issue 10, 2010, 96-97
O’Sullivan, ‘J. NSW WRAP, Polo’s Double Projects,’ Australian Art Collector, Issue 53, 2010, 246
Cover Design ‘The Best Thing Ever’, commissioned for Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2009 catalogue
Costantino, T. ‘Why do we do the things we do review’, The Daily Serving, 2009, https://www.dailyserving.com/2009/09/why-do-we-do-the-things-we-do/
Cunningham, D M. ‘The Best Thing Ever,’ Artnotes, Art Monthly Australia, April 2009, 57
Frost, A. ‘Everyone a winner with an arts lottery,’ Sydney Morning Herald, November 20, 2009, 19
Frost, A. ‘Being a success is overrated,’ The Sydney Morning Herald, July 22, 2009, 9
Snell T. ‚Show prises open the studio door,’ The Australian, August 25, 2009, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25974870-16947,00.html
‘You have already won,’ The Art Life, 2009, http://artlife.blogspot.com/2009/11/you-have-already-won.html, November 14
Wolifson, C. “Interview: Tom Polo for ‘I’m worse at what I do best’”, Das Super Paper, Issue 10, 2009
Featured on Vasili Kaliman’s Art Patrol, October 8, 2009, http://artpatrol.blogspot.com/2009/10/tom-polo-24september-24-october-2009.html
Von Sturmer, John. ‘West is When is West: A Trip Report’, Art Monthly Australia, Oct 2009, 21-23
Frost, A. ‘If I Could Have (Animal Art),’ Australian Art Collector, issue 45, July 2008, 308 – 309
‘There’s A Winner In You’ series, Runway Magazine, Issue 10 Romance, autumn, 2008
‘Space is the Place,’The Art Life, 14 December, artlife.blogspot.com/2007/12/space-is-place.html
COLLECTIONS
Artbank, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Campbelltown Art Centre, New South Wales, Australia
Joyce Nissan Collection, Melbourne, Australia
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria, Australia
Orange Regional Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
Redlands Grammar, Sydney, Australia
Terrace Towers Group, Sydney, Australia
Private collections globally
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