Tony Oursler studied at the California Institute of the Arts and at Boston University College of Fine Arts. With an extensive production including video, music and performance, he is widely known for his video installations featuring the moving image combined with objects. Oursler's spherical screens, with projections of human faces that look and talk directly to the viewer, are placed among everyday objects, creating an uncanny impression of reality. In other works, he projects eyes with television screens reflected in the pupils, talking lights, and talking heads that are as sinister as they are intriguing. Always humorous and ironic, his grotesque characters and his narrative video sculptures explore the relationship between individuals and the media in contemporary life.

Since the early 1980s, Oursler has exhibited widely in Europe and America. Major retrospectives include the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles, 2000; Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencia, 2001; Museo di Arte Contemporanea, Rome, 2010; and Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, 2021. His work is included in numerous museum collections such as Los Angeles County Museum; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Whitney Museum, New York; and MACBA, Barcelona, among others.