Seaford artist Tony Sowersby has spent his life observing the world and reflecting it back through a humanist lens, often finding beauty in the ordinary or overlooked; sunset reflected in rain on the bitumen at a Frankston carpark, a dead gum tree foregrounding a pastel moonrise over Seaford foreshore or a game of beach cricket as the setting sun silhouettes the players. Tony finds life beautiful, nowhere more so than his local area. He’s painted 75 murals for South East Water alone so, chances are, you’ve seen Tony’s work.
This year, for Frankston’s fabulous South Side Festival, Tony was selected to display a group of local paintings at Frankston Arts Centre’s Curved Wall Gallery. His Art from the South exhibition opens May 10. “I make art about where I am. I try to give people a different way of viewing what they see all the time. This show will resonate with locals. My work is from Frankston and I want to own that,” he says.
Art has always been Tony’s means of communication about the world. From the time he could write his name, he was constantly drawing. He grew up in Glen Waverly in the 1950s and 60s as Melbourne’s suburbs were just burgeoning. There were lots of interesting things to observe. His parents weren’t creative people, but there were artists within the family. His grandmother taught Tony to draw.
In high school, Tony was discouraged from pursuing art because he was good academically. Instead, he went to art classes after school and on weekends. After graduation he and a friend spent two years backpacking across Europe, visiting all of the great art galleries. He saw the 1975 blockbuster Turner exhibition in London, was particularly stuck by the work of Van Gogh and Vermeer in Amsterdam, and marvelled at Manet and Monet in Paris. Coming home, Tony and his friend took an overland journey from London to Singapore mostly on local buses. Their budgeting was impeccable. Their travels finished just in the nick of time, they had three Australian cents left between them.
At 21, Tony was permitted to attend art classes at his sister’s all-girls school, Avila College.
At 21, Tony was permitted to attend art classes at his sister’s all-girls school, Avila College. He was taught by the brilliant Sister Raymond (who also taught Germaine Greer). As the only young man in a classroom of eighteen-year old girls, Tony was pretty happy. He then went to Caulfield Institute of Technology, majoring in printmaking, though he has always been a painter.
From the age of 23, Tony dedicated 25 years to working with at-risk youth in Frankston and the South Eastern suburbs, using art as a tool for engagement. It was a powerful means of self-expression, but these young people also learned practical skills they could carry forward into their adult lives.
Tony has always taken a keen interest in people and politics. He believes all art is political – even a landscape. Tony has raised a few eyebrows with his wry and whimsical take on Australian politics. The Financial Review printed his 2005 Bald Archy winner, a portrait called The Cardinal with his Abbot. Cardinal Pell holds up one finger as Tony Abbott sits on his knee as a ventriloquist’s dummy. It’s on the cover of Tony’s 2013 book, The Political Landscape; Portraits of Australia’s Political, Business and Cultural Leaders 1998-2013.
During a routine eye exam in 2017 a benign brain tumour was discovered on Tony’s pituitary gland. While it was a terrible shock, his surgery was successful. With good care and loving support, he was able to recover well and get back to his painting studio.
In 2019, Tony published The Dark Book, featuring his paintings of the night, dusk, dawn and storms. They are local snapshots often taken through the windscreen of his car piloted by his wife of 42 years, Caz, who frequently facilitates these observational journeys. Caz and their three children have been Tony’s greatest source of pride.
Tony entered the Archibald Prize in 2022. While that portrait wasn’t selected, the same portrait won the People’s Choice Award in the National Portrait Gallery’s Darling Prize.
Nowadays, it’s Tony’s attitude of gratitude for life and where he lives it that drives him. His attitude is infectious. Catch his show at Frankston Arts Centre from May 10 to June 21.
IG: @tonysowersbyartist
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