Tony Oursler facts for kids

Tony Oursler, born in 1957, is an American artist known for his unique video and installation art. He creates art using many different things like video, sculptures, and even live performances. He studied art at the California Institute of the Arts and now lives and works in New York City.

Early Life and Art School

Tony Oursler was born in Manhattan in 1957. He grew up in Nyack, New York, in a family connected to the arts. His grandfather was the writer Fulton Oursler.

Tony went to the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) for his art education. There, he studied with famous artists like John Baldessari and Laurie Anderson. Some of his classmates included Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw, who also became well-known artists. After finishing school in 1979, Oursler moved back to New York in 1981.

Tony Oursler's Art

Early Video Art

Tony Oursler first became known for his handmade video tapes. These videos often told stories in a broken-up way. Examples include The Loner (1980) and EVOL (1984). These early works used special effects, painted backgrounds, and stop-motion animation. They were shown in many art spaces and museums.

Art Installations

Oursler's early installations were like dark rooms filled with video, sound, and language. He mixed these with colorful sculptures. He found ways to make video images appear off the screen. He used reflections in water, mirrors, and glass.

One early installation was Son of Oil in 1982. It explored ideas about conspiracy theories and the oil industry. Another large installation, L7-L5 (1984), looked at science fiction stories. It was shown at The Kitchen in New York.

Projection Art

In 1991, Oursler started using small video projectors. He created The Watching for documenta 9. This artwork featured soft cloth figures with faces animated by video projections. He then made more installations that combined everyday objects with video projections.

Judy (1993) explored how mass media relates to different personalities. Get Away II showed a projected figure under a mattress talking to the viewer. These works became very popular.

Later, he made "talking lights" like Streetlight (1997). He also created video sculptures of eyes with TV screens reflected in them. Composite Still Life (1999) featured spooky talking heads. His installation Optics (1999) looked at how light and dark work in the history of the camera obscura. Oursler believed that art and moving images have always been connected by this idea.

Public Art Projects

Since 2000, Oursler has created many large-scale public art projects. These are often shown outdoors or in public buildings.

In 2000, he created Influence Machine. This project used smoke, trees, and buildings as screens for projections. It explored how communication devices, from the telegraph to computers, have changed. This work was shown in Madison Square Park in New York City and Soho Square in London. He also made permanent public art in places like Barcelona and New Zealand. His "Braincast" is at the Seattle Public Library.

Million Colors (2006) is a permanent artwork in Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona. Oursler learned that the local canyons have many different colors. The artwork uses spoken texts from Arizona locals and immigrants. It tries to let the history of the desert speak for itself.

In 2009, he made video installations for the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York.

Tony Oursler:Monsters, Tony Oursler & éditions Take5

Recent Public Art

In 2013, Oursler created Klang for the Ekebergparken Sculpture Park. This installation had three parts: a video cave, a talking lamppost, and two tree projections.

In 2014, he had two large installations in the Netherlands. X ergo Y was at the Stedelijk Museum. I/O underflow was at the Oude Kerk, inspired by Alan Turing.

Tear of the Cloud was shown in Riverside Park in New York in 2018. This project explored the history of technology and communication in the area. It connected ideas like Morse code to modern facial recognition. It also touched on local history, from early film to hip-hop culture. The artwork used digital projections to bring these stories to life.

In 2019, Oursler created 6th for the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania. This piece projected images into old zoo cages. It aimed to bring back the image of the Tasmanian tiger, which is now extinct. At the same time, Beyond the Spectrum was shown at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. This installation had 30 talking lights placed among rare plants.

Also in 2019, Oursler presented Eclipse at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. This work focused on environmental themes and the idea of losing nature. 电流 (Current) (2019) is an installation on the Nanjing Eye Footbridge in China.

Collaborations

Tony Oursler has worked with many other artists and musicians.

While at CalArts, he started a group called "Poetics" with Mike Kelley. They created music and performances. In 1997–98, Kelley and Oursler showed "Poetics Project" at Documenta X. This installation recreated their band experience.

Oursler was a friend of David Bowie and worked with him often. Oursler made background videos for Bowie's 50th birthday concert in 1997. In 2000, they made a short film called Empty, where Bowie's head appeared to narrate. Oursler also made the video for Bowie's song "Where Are We Now?" in 2013.

He also worked with writer and artist Constance DeJong. They collaborated on Joyride (1986) and Relatives (1989). DeJong was featured in The Watching, where Oursler first projected videos onto dolls.

Oursler had a long friendship and partnership with Tony Conrad. They met in 1980. Conrad composed music for Oursler's public installation The Influence Machine in 2000. Their last collaboration was TC: the most interesting man alive.

Oursler met Kim Gordon in the late 1970s. They worked on Making the Nature Scene, a short film about New York club culture. In 1990, Oursler made the music video for Sonic Youth's song "Tunic (Song for Karen)." Gordon has also contributed to the soundtracks of Oursler's works.

Exhibitions

Tony Oursler's art has been shown in many important museums and galleries around the world. These include the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Tate Modern in London.

His major career survey, "Introjection," was shown from 1999 to 2001. It traveled to several museums, including the Williams College Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. His work was also part of Glasstress at the Venice Biennale in 2011.

Exhibitions in the 2010s

From October to December 2010, the Lehmann Maupin Gallery hosted Oursler's exhibition called Peak. This show happened at the same time as his "Valley" exhibition.

Art Collections

Many public art collections own works by Tony Oursler. Some of these include the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

Galleries Representing Tony Oursler

Tony Oursler's art is shown and sold through several art galleries:

• Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, CA
• Lehmann Maupin Gallery
• Lisson Gallery

Images for kids

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  Tony Oursler:Monsters, Tony Oursler & éditions Take5

See also

In Spanish: Tony Oursler para niños