Tony Oursler ( B. 1957 ) is an American artist known for his multimedia works, its installations and its performances.
He studied at the California Institute of the Arts where he graduated in 1979.
During his career he has worked with Constance DeJong, Tony Conrad and Dan Graham and Sonic Youth. Since its inception, he is interested in video. Multimedia works, that made his renown, are videos that are projected in three dimensions, often on spherical surfaces, which accentuate the expressiveness of the subject: a face in the act of speaking, to observe or yell. Combining sculpture, multimedia projections and recordings of the human voice, Oursler looks for an interaction with the audience and the animation of psychological and philosophical concepts in a dreamlike space: great attention is given to light (see for example his Streetlight installation of Optics 1997 or 1999, which examined the polarity of light through a dark room).
Tony Oursler - Sound Digressions: Spectrum - Galerie Mitterrand, Paris
Unidentified - Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Tony Oursler - Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm
Tony Oursler - A*gR_3 - Galeria Moises Perez de Albeniz, Madrid
Tony Oursler: Imponderable - Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, NY
Tony Oursler - »pU#\*c« - Galerie Hans Mayer, Dusseldorf
Tony Oursler - PriV%te - Lehmann Maupin - Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Tony Oursler - Bernier/Eliades Gallery, Athen
Tony Oursler - Imponderable - Galerie du Jour agnès b, Paris
Tony Oursler - Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY
Tony Oursler – template/variant/friend/stranger - Lisson Gallery, London
Tony Oursler - Passe-Partout - Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
Tony Oursler - Obscura - Galerie Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf
Tony Oursler - Guy Pieters Gallery - Saint Paul de Vence, Saint-Paul de Vence
Phantasmagoria, Grand-Hornu MAC’s, Hornu, Belgium
Glare Schematics, A Baronian Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
hopped (popped), Edward Hopper House, Nyack, New York
Galeria Leme, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ekeberg Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway
John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Phobic / White Trash, JGM Galerie & Campoli Presti, Paris, France
strawberry ecstasy green, Espace Louis Vuitton, Venice, Italy
Tony Oursler: UFOs and Effigies, Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery, New York
Little Worlds, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii
agentic iced etcetera, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine
The Influence Machine, Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
Norte Sul Leste Oeste, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Oxt Variations, 313 Art Project, Seoul, Korea
Denouement, FaMa Gallery, Verona, Italy
Open Obscura, PAC - Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Sculpture, Jensen Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Sculpture, Jensen/Fox, Auckland, New Zealand
Super Pop (and Not), Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong
top–down–bottom–up, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Lapsed Fantasist, Galerie Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany
False-Color Actions, Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain
Scribble, Adumbrations, Avlskarl Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Face to Face, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark
Adobe Museum of Digital Media, Online
As Above, So Below, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
Open Obscura, PAC - Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
JMG Galerie, Paris, France
Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro (November)
"Valley," Adobe Museum of Digital Media
"Peak," Lehmann Maupin, New York
"ON/OFF," Jensen Gallery, New Zealand
"Vertical Loop Task," Baldwin Gallery, Aspen
"Number Seven, Plus or Minus 2," Faurschou Gallery, Beijing, China
"LOCK 2,4,6", Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2009 - 2010) (cat. and CD)
"50 Schilling," Galerie Steinek, Vienna, Austria
Baronian-Francey, Brussels, Belgium
"Void or Everything Ever Wanted," Luminato Festival, Toronto, Canada
"Haze or Transparency with Friends and Colors," AGO, Toronto, Canada
"Five Take Radius," Clocktower, New York
"Gaze Heuristic (With Drool)," Galleria IN ARCO, Turin, Italy
"Cellphones Diagrams Cigarettes Searches and Scratch Cards," Metro Pictures, New York
Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Splatter Project #1," Frank Sinatra High School, New York (Permanent public project)
“Mirada Pensante” Espacio Cultural El Tanque, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
"High," Lisson Gallery, London, England
“Trunk Mask Bomb Frame Hatchet Crutch Queen,” Galería Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain
“NixAlienClimaxCloudAxe,” House of Photography, Moscow, Russia
"St. Roch," KK Projects, New Orleans
"Project for Physic Garden," London, England
"AWGTHTGTWTA," New York
"Horizon Scander Jeu," (In collaboration with Tony Conrad and Constance DeJong) Gare du Nord, Paris, France
Jensen Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Project for Land and Beach, Gibbs Farm, New Zealand
"Ooze," Lehmann Maupin, New York
"Phobos," Bernier/Eliades, Athens, Greece
“Dum-Dum, Metalbreath, Wadcutter,” Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan
Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki (2007-2008) (cat.)
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco
"Million Colors," Phoenix (Permanent public project)
“Spaced,” Margo Levin Gallery, Los Angeles
Simon Studer Art, Geneva, Switzerland
"Sound Digressions in Seven Colors" Nyehaus, New York
Galleria IN ARCO, Turin, Italy
"Disposifs," Kunstforeningen GL Strand, Copenhagen, Germany
"Perfect Partner," Collaboration with Phil Morrison and Kim Gordon, Montclair, New Jersey
"Thought Forms," Metro Pictures, New York
"Blue Invasion," Sydney, Australia
“Studio: Seven Months of My Aesthetic Education (Plus Some)”, “Climaxed”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
“Dispositifs,” Jeu de Paume, Paris (Cat.); Domus Atrium 2002, Salamanca, Spain (Cat.) Helsinki City Art Museum, Helsinki
"Perfect Partner," Collaboration with Phil Morrison and Kim Gordon, Barbican, London
Lehmann Maupin, New York
"Unk," Aarhus Kunsthaus, Aarhus, Denmark
"Sexta de Cifra," Barcelona Civic Plaza, Barcelona, Spain (Permanent Public Project)
"Blob," Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid, Spain
"Studio: Seven Months of My Aesthetic Education (Plus Some)," Musee D’Orsay, Paris, France
"Braincast," Seattle Public Library, Seattle
"PHOBOS," Bernier Eliades, Athens
Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
Metro Pictures, New York
Bernier/Eliades, Athens, Greece
Jensen Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Lisson Gallery, London, England
Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco
Parallel Lines, Galleria in Arco, Torino, Italy; Studio d’Arte Raffaelli, Travai, Italy (cat.)
Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma, Italy
"Station" and "The Influence Macgine (Swedish version)," Magasin 3, Stockholm Konsthall, Sweden (cat. and CD)
"Tony Oursler,” Lehmann Maupin, New York
Galerie Steinek, Vienna, Austria
"Luftmetall," Galerie Hans Meyer, Dusseldorf, Germany
"Shock-Rock”, Gräflicher Kurpark Driburg, Garten_Landschaft
OstWestfalenLippe, Germany
“Tony Oursler: Drawings, CD-ROM, Installation, Videotapes,” Pei Ling Chan Gallery and Garden for the Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia
"Antennae Pods transmissions", Metro Pictures, New York
Institute Valencià D’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (cat.)
Newcomb Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
“Flucht,” Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria
Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea, San Sebastian, Spain
Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
Galerie Joan Prats, Barcelona, Spain
“Sulfer, Glass, Silicon,” 1000 Eventi, Milan (cat.)
“The Empty Cabinet,” Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle; University Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego Lisson Gallery, London
“Tony Oursler,” Bernier/Eliades, Athens
Galerie Steinek, Vienna
Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
“Tony Oursler: The Darkest Color Infinitely Amplified,” The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (broch.)
"The Influence Machine," New York
“EVOL,” Sammlung Goetz, Munich
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
"Introjection: Tony Oursler mid-career survey, 1976-1999," MASS MoCA, N. Adams, Massachusetts; Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts (17 April- 24 October 1999); Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (11 December 1999- 13 February 2000); Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2 April- 30 July 2000); Des Moines Art Center (11 November 2000- 21 January 2001) (cat.)
Galerie Biedermann, München
Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
Metro Pictures, New York
“Directions-Tony Oursler: Video Dolls with Tracey Liepold,” Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. (broch)
"Videotapes, Dummies, Drawings, Photographs, Viruses, Heads, Eyes, & CD-ROM," Kunstverein Hannover, Germany, Malmö; Konsthall, Sweden (cat.)
Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid (cat.)
“The Poetics Project: 1977-1997”, in collaboration with Mike Kelley
"Judy," Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles (and 2000)
Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado
capc Musée, Musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux; Salade Exposiciones Rekalde, Bilboa (cat.)
Paule Anglim, San Francisco
“The Poetics Project: 1977-1997”, in collaboration with Mike Kelley
Galerie Biedermann, Munich
Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo
“Der menschliche Faktor—Das individuum im Spiegel der zeitgenosslschen Kunst,” Hypo Bank Luxembourg, Kunsthandel Achenbach, Dusseldorf
The Video Room, White Columns, New York
“Videoskulpturen,” Galerie Franck & Schulte, Berlin
Lisson Gallery, London
Jean Bernier Gallery, Athens
Metro Pictures, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California (broch.)
"My Drawings 1976-1996," Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany (cat.)
"System for Dramatic Feedback," Portikus Frankfurt; Les Musées de la Ville de Strasbourg, France; Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland; Stedlijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland (traveling exhibition)
"Tony Oursler: Video Installations, Objects, Watercolors," Musée des Arts Modernes et Contemporains, Strasbourg, France
Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France
Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
“Tony Oursler- Ouvres Récentes,” Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid (cat.)
Lisson Gallery, London
Bernier/Eliades, Athens
Linda Chathcart Gallery, Santa Monica
“Dummies, Flowers, Alters, Clouds, and Organs,” Metro Pictures, New York
“Tony Oursler—Recent Video Works,” The contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
"White Trash and Phobic," Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva; Kunstwerke, Berlin (cat.)
Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
The Living Room, San Francisco
“Dummies, Dolls, and Posion Candy,” IKON Gallery, Birmingham (cat.); Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, (split site exhibition)
“F/X Plotter, 2 Way,” Kijkhuis, The Hague, The Netherlands
The Space, Boston
The Knitting Factory, New York
Diane Brown Gallery, New York
“Dummies, Hex Signs, Watercolours,” The Living Room, San Francisco
The Pacific Film Archives, San Francisco
The Cinématèque, San Francisco
Diane Brown Gallery, New York
“Dummies, Hex Signs, Watercolours,” The Living Room, San Francisco
The Pacific Film Archives, San Francisco
The Cinématèque, San Francisco
Folkwang Museum, Essen (cat.)
Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Basel
Collective for Living Cinema, New York
Bobo Gallery, San Francisco
“Tony Oursler’s Works,” Le Lieu, Quebec City
“Constellation: Intermission,” Diane Brown Gallery, New York
Western Front, Vancouver
Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies/EZTV, Los Angeles
The Kitchen, New York
"Spheres of Influence," Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (cat.)
New Langton Arts, San Francisco
Boston Film/Video Foundation, Boston
Kijkhuis, Den Haag, The Netherlands
Kunst Delft, Delft, The Netherlands
ELAC, Espace Lyonnais d’Art Contemporain, Lyon
Schule fur Gestaltung, Basel
Anthology Film Archives, New York
“L-7, L-5,” The Kitchen, New York
Mo David Gallery, New York
The Kitchen, New York
La Mamelle, San Francisco
“My Sets,” Media Study, Buffalo
“Son of Oil,” A Space, Toronto
Panic House/Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles
The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Boston Film/Video Foundation, Boston
“A Scene,” P.S.1, New York
“Complete Works”, The Kitchen, New York
Soho TV M/T Channel 10, New York
University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley “Video Viewpoints,” The Museum of Modern Art, New York