Tom Varley (b. 1985) is an artist living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. Since 2020 Tom has concentrated exclusively on painting and drawing. Prior to this he worked with a range of media including film, video, text, and installation. His artworks have often explored the subjective character of individual experience and how this relates to wider systems and structures — language, ideology, and economy.
Tom Varley (b. 1985) is an artist living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. Since 2020 Tom has concentrated exclusively on painting and drawing. Prior to this he worked with a range of media including film, video, text, and installation. His artworks have often explored the subjective character of individual experience and how this relates to wider systems and structures — language, ideology, and economy.
Tom graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2008 and completed an MFA at Goldsmiths in 2017. He served on the Transmission committee between 2010 and 2012, took part in the Collective Gallery's New Work Scotland programme (now Satellites) in 2013, and was part of The Syllabus in 2015.
Tom was the recipient of the Drawing Room Bursary Award in 2012, a Goldsmiths Postgraduate Scholarship in 2015, and the Chelsea Arts Club Trust Award in 2016. His work has been supported by the Elephant Trust, Creative Scotland, Jerwood Visual Arts, and the Arts Trust of Scotland among others. He has completed residencies at Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts (2019), Hospitalfield (2018), Lokaal01 Antwerp (2016), Standpoint London (2014), Studio Voltaire London (2013), The Drawing Room London (2012) and Market Gallery Glasgow (2009). He was a participant in the Oberhausen Film Festival Seminar in 2018 and in Group Affinity at Kunstverein Munich in 2011.
Tom’s work has been shown in group exhibitions and screenings at venues including: Centre for Contemporary Art Glasgow (2019); DIY Space for London (2018); Whitechapel Art Gallery (2018); Cooper Gallery Dundee (2018); PS2 Belfast (2017); Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum (2016); Ciné 13 Théâtre Paris (2016); MUPO Oaxaca (2016); Global Committee New York; Volksbuehne Pavilion Berlin (2013); ICA London (2013); Rhubaba Edinburgh (2013); and the Drawing Room London (2013). Tom has had solo exhibitions at Tramway Glasgow, Collective Gallery Edinburgh, and Glasgow Project Room.
tomvarley1[at]gmail.com