Tom Polo | Brescia residency 2018

recede to proceed, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 205 x 205 cm, private collection Brussels

Tom Polo | of defence and doubt | 2018

Tom Polo (b. 1985, Sydney Australia) uses painting and painted environments to explore how conversation, doubt and gesture are embodied within abstracted 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 holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons. Class 1) and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales Art & Design. Since 2007, he has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and internationally.

Recent projects include: Meditation on a Bone, Heide Museum of Modern Art, VIC (2018); Primavera 2017, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, NSW (2017);(These Things) Tell Me More About You, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC (2017); Looking at Me Through You, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney (2017); Emotional Patrol, STATION, Melbourne (2017); Painting. More Painting, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, VIC (2016); and What Goes On Here, Spectrum Now, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2016).

Polo was awarded the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2015 and completed residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris and ACME Studios, London in 2016 and Artspace, Sydney in 2017.

Download booklet with 12 paintings

AVAILABLE WORKS

soft secrets, tender facts, 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer

better balance (lines are lies), 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:

any way either way (high lighter hand), 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

with red relief, 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

strong shadows, between blinds, 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

Blue Bottoms (practice makes perfect), 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

give me a minute or gimme a lifetime (sister spotty) , 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, , private collection

sway [dumb seduction], 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, private collection

stoop swoop [mine is yours], 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, private collection

and I know nothing (huge hat), 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

there's a method to my madness (LL), 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

of defence and doubt, 2018, acrylic and Flashe on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, photo Jessica Maurer, private collection

persbericht [nederlands]: artists/TomPolo/PersberichtTomPOLOgalerieTransit.pdf

click on the image to download Energent, the contemporary painting magazine, article about Tom Polo

Personal website Tom Polo