Scott Harrison and Colin Burns
Scott Harrison and Colin Burns
McCaig-Welles Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming
exhibition of recent works by artists Scott Harrison and Colin
Burns. The exhibition will open with a reception on Saturday,
May 6, 2006 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm.
This exhibition will showcase the works of both artists who
met nearly twenty years ago while they were attending art
school in Boston. Although very different in approach and
technique, both artists draw upon similar themes and
narratives for the exhibition, particularly their feelings and
associations with youth:
“This series was originally conceived as illustrations for a
xeroxed zine, as part of my middle aged nostalgia for my
youth in the eighties. Not the Duran Duran eighties, but the
way I spent it: wasted, suicidal, making collages of medical
atrocities, and trying unsuccessfully to figure out
structuralism." -Harrison
Burns contemplates the nature of free will in the context of
youth and uses a generic Manson girl as the visual metaphor:
With a recurring vocabulary of symbols I've asked questions
about the nature of free will: Is choosing to surrender your
free will in itself, an act of free will? Or is it simply an
excuse to absolve yourself of personal responsibility? The
power and magic of children's books has maintained a great
sway over me. In an attempt to cloak these questions of free
will in the guise of children's book illustrations, I hope to
elicit a subconscious response from the viewer's childhood
memories.’
Both artists share a similar underground pop aesthetic yet
there is a strange, mysterious and dark quality that lingers in
each of their works, engaging the viewer in a journey towards
uncovering a truth.
Scott Harrison was born in 1965, in Oklahoma and later
earned a Master's degree from the School of Visual Arts in
New York City. He has had recent exhibitions at La Luz de
Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles and at Portland Art Center in
Portland,Oregon. He is an internationally known tattoo artist
and proprietor of the inexplicably popular underground art
website headbandbrothers.com.
Colin Burns was born in 1966. He attended the Corcoran
School of Art in Washington DC, then transferred and
graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston, MA. In 2003, Burns, David Hochbaum, and Museum
School alumnus Travis Lindquist formed the Goldmine
Shithouse, a visual arts collaborative who have had
exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. Colin
Burns had a recent solo exhibition at Metal Stone Gallery, in
NYC.
Opening reception Saturday, May 6, 2006 7-10pm
McCaig-Welles Gallery
129 Roebling Street - Brooklyn