Tom Burr
dal 12/1/2008 al 29/3/2008
Segnalato da
12/1/2008
Tom Burr
Sculpture Center, New York
The artist creates a set of abstract tableaux reflecting on modernity: its history, its personalities, and of course, its style. Burr's work, infused with both wit and melancholy, re-visits some of the central concerns of sculptural practice of the last few decades: site-specificity, monumentalism, appropriation and theatricality.
In Addict - Love, Tom Burr creates a set of abstract tableaux reflecting on modernity: its history,
its personalities, and of course, its style. Burr ruminates on figures, moments, and the heady
mise en scène that both gave rise to and were shaped by Modernism's powerful ideology. These
groupings include elements that are further developments in Burr's repertory of forms. Burr
describes his approach to the making of sculptural work as so many acts in a play, or stills in a
film. This theatricality and his allegorical use of specific forms of the theater: platforms/stages,
railings, curtains, lighting, mirrors, and personal articles that function as sculptural props suggest
a history of modernism, and a history of sculpture, as a series of scripted gestures to be
performed.
Tom Burr’s work, infused with both wit and melancholy, re-visits some of the central concerns of
sculptural practice of the last few decades: site-specificity, monumentalism, appropriation and
theatricality. Like many of his peers (e.g., Andrea Fraser, Rachel Harrison, John Miller, and
Kelley Walker) Burr pursues a critical art that emerges from a dialogue with the context of its
production and display. While sculpture is his primary medium, Burr’s work draws on and engages
with film, theater, music, architecture, and various underground cultures. Biography also enters
into many of his sculptures and installations, questioning the foundations of identity construction
and subjectivity.
Burr is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and the Whitney Independent Study Program and
now lives and works in Norfolk, Connecticut and New York. Burr has exhibited extensively
throughout Europe in solo and group exhibitions and was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial.
He has had recent solo exhibitions at the Secession (Vienna, Austria, 2007); and Musée catonal
des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland, 2006). His work will be seen in New York this
fall in a two-person exhibition at the Swiss Institute with Walter Pfeiffer, and Unmonumental at
the New Museum.
Thanks
Tom Burr: Addict - Love is presented through SculptureCenter’s Artist-in-Residence program and is
made possible through the generous support of The Kraus Family Foundation, and The Milton and
Sally Avery Arts Foundation.
SculptureCenter’s annual programs are supported by The National Endowment for the Arts; The
New York State Council on the Arts; The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and New
York City Councilman Eric Gioia as well as The A. Woodner Fund; The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts; Bloomberg; Citibank; The Dedalus Foundation, Inc.; The Ken and Judith Joy
Foundation; The Kraus Family Foundation; The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc.; The Mathis-
Pfohl Foundation; The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; The New York Community Trust;
the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and The Starry Night Fund of Tides Foundation.
About SculptureCenter
Founded by artists in 1928, SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to
experimental and innovative developments in contemporary sculpture. SculptureCenter
commissions new work and presents exhibits by emerging and established, national and
international artists. In 2001, SculptureCenter purchased a former trolley repair shop in Long
Island City, Queens. This facility, designed by artist/designer Maya Lin, includes 6,000 square
feet of interior exhibition space, offices, and outdoor exhibition space.
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 13, 4 -6 pm
Sculpture Center
44-19 Purves Street Long Island City, New York
Free admission