Tom Polo was born in 1985 and lives and works in Sydney. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) and Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, UNSW. Since 2007, Polo has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions around Sydney as well as in Melbourne, Brisbane and London.
Read MoreHis practice was initially inspired by an incident in 2009, in which he noticed a tattoo on the back of a passenger on a bus. This experience is demonstrative of Polo's preoccupation with text in his work that is largely inspired by observations of the everyday. For years he has observed exchanges and conversations that occur on public transport on which he spends much of his time. The result is colourful and playful works that, through the juxtaposition of text and image, make a social commentary on contemporary issues.
He has been a finalist in the Fishers Ghost Art Award, the Qantas Spirit of Youth Award, The Blake Prize and Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship and the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Art & Australia / Credit Suisse Private Banking Contemporary Art Award. Polo has undertaken residencies at Queen Street Studios (at Fraser Studios), Parramatta Artists Studios, The Lockup Cultural Centre, Newcastle and the Australia Council’s London Studio. His work has been collected by Artbank, Terrace Towers Group and private collectors in Australia, the UK and USA.
