Twigg, Tony

Born in Brisbane in 1953, Tony Twigg established his foundational artistic training within Australia's premiere avant-garde art academies during the highly experimental post-war era. He formalized his studio research at the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education and later secured a Master of Arts in Visual Arts from the College of Fine Arts (UNSW) in Sydney in 1985. His early career was deeply multi-disciplinary; alongside exhibiting paintings, he collaborated intensely with the Sydney Dance Company, the Canberra Dance Ensemble, and independent choreographers to bring three-dimensional structures to life through kinetic stage performance. His breakthrough animated film work, A Passion Play, earned him critical international acclaim, including an official selection at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

The ultimate turning point in Twigg's career occurred during a fateful journey in 1995. While returning from an overseas film festival, he stopped in Manila to visit an artist friend, Keith Looby. Captivated by the city's chaotic urban layering, its rich post-colonial history, and its highly active, collaborative arts community, Twigg established an enduring, dual-footprint studio practice bridging Sydney and Manila.

Represented prominently in the Philippines by Galleria Duemila since 2001, and across Malaysia and Singapore by Taksu Gallery, Twigg has executed over 59 solo exhibitions globally. His hybrid timber sculptures and abstract canvases are preserved inside the permanent collections of major public institutions, including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Ateneo Art Gallery in Manila.

Exhibition History
Selected Individual Milestone Exhibitions
2023: The Wisdom of Infants – SLOT Projects Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

2020: Code – Art Atrium Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

2019: The Remains of Love – Spud Lane Gallery, Southern Highlands, Australia (A celebrated survey looking at life's dualities and the rebuilding of material memories).

2016: There, Not There and On the Way – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines (Marking his long-term partnership with the historic gallery).

2016: Manifesto – Taksu Gallery, Singapore.

2016: Moonbathing – Annandale Galleries, Sydney, Australia.

2012: Moon Bathing – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Philippines (An exhibition exploring the moon as a poetic cross-cultural anchor through 19 signature timber wall sculptures).

2010: The Entropy Shuffle – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Philippines.

2005: No Borders – Galleria Duemila, Manila, Philippines.

2002: Silent Talking – Multi-venue tour across Ray Hughes Gallery (Australia), Galleria Duemila at the Art Center (SM Megamall), and the Australian Centre in Makati City.

Selected Institutional Group Curation & National Surveys
2026: ALT ART 2026 – Featured Master Gallery Roster under Galleria Duemila, Manila, Philippines.

2018: Abstraction 111 – Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.

2012: Trans/portable – MO_Space, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Philippines (An exhibition tracking cultural flows, displacement, and transportability alongside Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan).

2012: New Acquisitions Showcase – Ateneo Art Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines.

1999: Baguio Arts Festival – Site-specific public installations, Cordillera Highlands, Philippines.