Born in Basel (1975), Switzerland. Lives and works in Fremantle, Western Australia. Whadjuk Country.
Tom Mùller is represented by MOORE CONTEMPORARY
Tom Mùller is an established multi-disciplinary artist with an active international practice spanning the realms of site-responsive, temporal and permanent projects. His work has been included in major exhibitions and Institutions including ‘The National’ at Carriageworks, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Adelaide Biennial, Biennale de la Chaux-de-Fonds, and the upcoming Northern Alps Triennale in Japan. He has been the recipient of multiple Australia Council grants, the inaugural winner of the Qantas Contemporary Art prize, a mid-career fellowship from the Department of Culture and the Arts. In 2009 won the Basel international residency program through the Christoph Merian Stiftung. He was mentored by the Russian-American conceptual artist Ilya Kabakov in New York, and studied Anthroposophy at Emerson College in London. He holds a BFA (first class honours) in Sculpture from Curtin University of Technology.
In parallel to his personal practice, Tom is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Fremantle Biennale.
In a number of senses Tom Mùller is a big picture artist. Globalisation, the environment, space and time all fascinate him. He seems to prefer vast data sets, expansive geographies, sweeping timeframes and sequences of history. And yet, at the same time, Mùller is attentive to fine detail, to the specificities of things local, to the poetry of small, momentary and fleeting things that resonate. In this big picture sense Mùller is interested in structures, processes and dynamics. He understands the universe as an infinitely complex network of endlessly interconnected systems. In the natural world these systems are manifest everywhere, from the minutest forms of matter through to the grand architecture of the cosmos. In the corresponding human realm these dynamics are expressed through information and communication technologies and other network infrastructures. An astute observer, subtle activist and deeply humane artist, Mùller posits far-reaching analytical links and associations between the seemingly distinct but invariably interconnected elements that together comprise the architecture of our world. His work is rich in ironic and sometimes humorous insights into how we grasp and assimilate knowledge and about the dazzlingly complex systems we inhabit. Even as we calculate the chances of eventual worldwide calamity, Mùller’s thought-provoking practice offers vantage points from which to imagine optimistically better futures. His diagrams and graphs create rhythms in the chaos and suggest the emergence of other worlds and alternate horizons.
CV
| 2001 | Advanced Visual Arts Course (with Ilya Kabakov), Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como, Italy |
| 2000 | Bachelor of Arts (Art), (1st Class Honours), Curtin University of Technology, Perth |
| 1999 | Certificate of Anthroposophy, The Sophia Centre, Australia |
| 1998 | Certificate of Art History and Anthroposophical Sculpture, Emerson College, London |
| 1996 | Diploma of Art & Design, The Western Australian School of Art & Design |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2022 | ‘Canon’, Cathedral Square, Perth |
| 2020 | ‘Monolith Scores’, WA Now, Art Gallery of Western Australia |
| 2020 | ‘Vertical Volumes’, Moore Contemporary, Perth |
| 2013 | ‘New World Order, Venn Gallery, Perth |
| 2011 | ‘Rising Lotus’, Fremantle Arts Centre |
| 2008 | ‘Elemental Worlds’, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts |
| 2007 | ‘Expedition’, Galerie Dusseldorf, Perth |
| 2006 | ‘Project Room’ Melbourne Art Fair 06, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne |
| 2006 | ‘Capital’, Sherman Galleries, Sydney |
| 2005 | ‘Stadium’, Galerie Dusseldorf, Perth |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2021 | ‘Rewilded’, V5 Project Space, Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
| 2021 | ‘Northern Alps Triennale’, Omachi, Japan |
| 2019 | ‘UNDERCURRENT 19, Fremantle Biennale |
| 2019 | ‘The National – New Australian Art, Carriageworks Sydney |
| 2019 | ‘ Ritual, There is Gallery, Perth |
| 2017 | ‘HIGH TIDE 17, Fremantle Biennale |
| 2017 | ‘M’Arte duemilladicasette’, Montegemoli, Italy |
| 2016 | ‘Mimesis, V5 Project Space, Neuchatel, Switzerland |
| 2015 | ‘Light of Interdiction, PS Art Space, Perth |
| 2013 | ‘Luminous Flux’, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, Perth |
| 2010 | ‘Neo Geo, Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane |
| 2010 | ‘F#, Austellungsraum Klingental, Basel |
| 2009 | ‘Maschi Fontana’, Musee Jurassien des Arts, Moutier |
| 2009 | ’69e Biennale de La Chaux-de-Fonds’, Musee des Beaux-Arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds |
| 2008 | ‘Handle With Care, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art’, Art Gallery of South Australia |
| 2008 | ‘Linden 1968’, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne |
| 2007 | ‘Economy’, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts |
| 2005 | ‘MixTape’, Art Gallery of Western Australia |
| 2005 | ‘Primavera’, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney |
| 2001 | ‘Tracce’, Galleria Viafarini, Milano |
| 2001 | ‘The Spirit of a Place, Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como |
COLLECTIONS
Artbank, Parliament House, Canberra, Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology, University of Western Australia, enex100 / ISPT, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, City of Perth, City of Fremantle, City of Joondalup, City of Melville, Royal Perth Hospital