Tom Burrows

A formalist sculptor who’s life experiences have at times infused his art production with social narrative (the antitheses of formalism) through the media of architecture, music, painting, performance, photography, video and words etc. (i.e. life skills).

Tom Burrows is an internationally recognized artist whose primary medium is cast pigmented polymer resin. His current practice focuses on colour fields, which play with opacity and surface texture to give the illusion of a panel lit from within.

Burrows received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of British Columbia in 1967, and continued post-graduate studies in sculpture at St. Martin's School of Art, London, England until 1969. He has held solo exhibitions in London, Tokyo, Berlin, New York, and across Canada.

Following the immediate succession of solo exhibitions by Rodney Graham and Ai Weiwei at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, the institute mounted a 50-year survey of Burrows’ work in 2015. The artist's work is held in private, corporate, and public collections across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Most recently, his polymer resin works were acquired for the permanent collection of Canada House in Trafalgar Square, London, and the HBC Global Art Collection in New York. Tom Burrows lives and works between Hornby Island and Vancouver.

What is formalism?

Hornby Island Studio Practice

Porcelain Panels in China

Tom Burrows at his studio on Hornby Island, British Columbia, 2013 1080.mp4

Tom Burrows in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China, 2012 1080.mp4

Belkin Gallery Retrospective 2015

Hornby Arts Artist Profile

Tom Burrows Artist's Talk, January 10, 2015 1080.mp4

Art Island S1E2_ Tom Burrows - Sculptor 1080.mp4

"The qualities of my panels arise from the exploration of material and process. Unlike most fine arts media, there is a rich spectrum of unexplored physical properties in my adopted medium.

It is coincidental if my material / processes produce the illusion of representation.

A title / story is attached to a panel only after its material completion. The title / story serves the panel as a memory device (a mnemonic), rather than the panel serving to illustrate a narrative (an illustration). Through this device (the mnemonic) the panels attempt to remain, without external reference, in a purely visual / physical realm.... and I do like my stories " - Tom Burrows 2004

Timeline

1940 - 1960

1940 Born in Kitchener (Berlin), Ontario. (see family tree 2001) Great-grandfather Tom Burrows 1833-1917

1945-59 Primary and secondary education in Galt, Ontario (pop. 20,000, 1 hour west of Toronto). report-card

1949 Mary, an older sister who studied with artist Fred Varley, marries artist Toni Onley. Toni

1954 Mary dies age 23 of an unspecified cause.https: Mary

1955 Runs away in the summer to Detroit lured (like a moth to a light bulb) by its black music and dance on Bob-Lo Bob-Lo Ferry

1960 - 1970

1960 Moves to Vancouver for pre-medical studies at the University of British Columbia. Contortionist

Meets Huang Bau-Xi (Paul Wong) at Toni Onley’s studio.

1961-3 Travels around the world going west. Fez

Settles in London, England for two years.

Meets Canadian expatriates Bob Rogers, who was doing his PhD at Oxford on Joyce Carey (author of the novel The Horse's Mouth) and sculptor Jerry Pethick who was studying at the Royal College of Art

Marries journalist Ida Carnevali. Kensington Registry Office

1964-7 B.A. in Art History at U.B.C. Curatorial studies with Alvin Balkin. The Direction of My Work 1966
Meets Ian Wallace in Ian Baxter’s studio course, and they began to exhibit art that was independent of their university studies (V.A.G. annual juried exhibitions 1965-6-7)

1965-67 Studio at 4th & Macdonald Against War Works: Homage to the Draft Card Burners on the wall, Johnny Comes Wheeling in the corner and Back Garden Bomb serving as a table. B.G.B. The first formalist works followed these: duo-chrome 4x2x2ft modules Conjugality and Perspective 69 and the mono-chrome 123, the last work completed before leaving for Saint Martins, London.1 2 3, 1967, 5×6.8×3ft, oil on doorskin

1967 1967 Interview Dorothy Cameron includes Conjugality a polychrome modular sculpture in Sculpture ’67 a National Gallery exhibition on the lawn of the Toronto city hall. catalogue photo

1967-9 Post-graduate sculpture, St. Martins, London, England.
Shares studio/lab with Gilbert and George, as well as Richard Long.
The first series of polymer panels was cast at the Ladbrook Grove studio. early-panel ~4x4ft, *cast polymer resin, 1 inch thick, hollow-core.panel shapes.

Squatter movement and situationist connections. situationist/skwat

Exhibits polymer panels at Galleria Ariete, Milan, in a group show with Brower Hatcher & Hamish Fulton.

1969 Son Elisha is born. Elisha

1969-72 North Vancouver Mud Flats, squatter studio-residence mud-house 1969 and sculpture series. mud-house 1970 http://vancouverartinthesixties.com/essays/urban-renewal

1970 - 1980

1970 Shares an exhibition with Ian Wallace at the Bau-Xi Gallery. Huang Bau-Xi

bridge-walk Bridge Walk a.k.a. The Return of Malcolm Lowry, performance. Bridge Walk documentation panel 2010, panel text.

Assists Mike Morris in guiding Alvin Balkind on his first (and only) LSD experience.

1971 living-art December, the same building inspector who bulldozed Malcolm Lowery’s squat in 1954 torches the mudflats cabin. mud-burn

1972 Begins to design and hand-build a studio residence on Hornby Island. cliff-top-mound ,

1973 Sandpile, an interactive colour video sculpture at V.A.G. and M.O.M.A., Paris. sandpile

1970-74 A founding faculty member of the B.F.A. program, U.B.C... Acting B.F.A. chair 1972-3. Fred Herzog teaches photography.
Interacts with students Rodney Graham, Scott Watson, Theodor (Saskatche)Wan, Jim Cadwaladr, Bryan (Trolly) Mulvihill, Rob Kleyn, Frank (Ramirez) Johnson etc..
Exhibits with Ian Wallace and Jeff Wall at U.B.C. gallery. mattress Meets Ron & Anna Hunt.

1974 Separates from Ida. Leaves institutional life. Moves to Hornby Island, five hours by car and ferry
from Vancouver. Begins building a studio residence, which is retained to this day.
It is featured in several architectural journals and Charles Jenks' 1982 opus, Architecture Today. photo by Matt Smith, Hornby house pan

1974-94 Supports art habit by occasional work as a commercial fisherman, lecturer, carpenter, welder, photojournalist, ornamental plasterer, prop maker, art director, landscaper, stone mason, etc., longliner halibut long-liner

1974-76 Temptations of Mao Tse Tung, sculpture series, exhibited at Pender St. Gallery, 1976. pender, AGNES 2020.

1974-84 Skwat Doc, an evolving socio-architectural sculpture. skwat-doc @ Carnegie Centre

1976 Co-ordinates material relating to squatting at the World Habitat Forum in Vancouver, which leads to a seven-month photo text documentation tour in Europe, Africa and Asia with a stipend from the United Nations (travels around the world going east).

European Skwat Dialogue, 3rd World Skwat Dialogue

I977 Begins a twenty-five-year relationship with poet Kate Van Dusen. Kate

Worm Cast for Kate cerca 1984.

1980 - 2000

1981 Skwat Doc exhibited interactively in European squatting centers. Skwat doc

1984 Skwat Doc at the International Bauausstellung, Berlin.
Berlin/South Bronx Transfer, squatter graffiti transfer, Fashion Moda Gallery, brox, boarderline # 3

1980-90 Dialectical Totems, sculpture series. Dialectical Totems

1985 Portrait by Joan Payne. portrait

1986 Moves to Toronto, lectures in U.of T. studio program, resigns after one term.
Meets Jack Jeffrey. Sets up a studio residence in Kensington Market and associates
with the Cameron House artists group, Jaan Poldaas, Rick Evans etc.

1988 Joins the Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, exhibits Dialectical Totems. Isaacs Gallery

1990 Begins to work almost exclusively with cast polymer panels. drawn objects*cast polymer resin, 1 inch thick, hollow-core.*

1991 Toronto recession hits, Isaacs Gallery closes, returns to Hornby Island.

1992 Sets up a studio residence in Vancouver

1994 Finally gives up day job(s).

Drawn Objects and Blanket Statements Exhibition of polymer panels at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo. Tokyo Embassy 4×4 modules

Hematoma series. Hematoma Double Brown

Meets Tom Cone at a Boulez concert and become close friends.

1995 Joins the Bau-Xi Galleries in Vancouver and Toronto.

1997 Silk Road series. Lop Nor

Art production 1965-84 is the subject of a U.B.C. art history M.A. thesis. Andrea Anderson’s “Sculpture of Concrete, Sculpture of Dreams or, looking for the utopian in the everyday” theses

1998 Aluminum cable works. anodized doddles

Becomes a founding member of the Core artist’s live/work co-op, Vancouver.

1999 Work in three centennial-year survey exhibitions of Canadian art, one representing the 1960’s, another the 1970’s and another the 1990’s.

2000 - 2010

2000 The Milky Way. Milky Way 2(4x4ft) *

2001 Mother, Helen (Knechtel) Burrows dies in her 90th year. Family papers reveal unknown German Jewish rabbinical connections via matriarchal lineage from Louis Kaufman and Martha Bombae. Family Tree Maternal Grandmother

Spall series. Spall 2x2ft *

Chinook series. chichako sun

2002 Kate moves to Toronto and marries poet Victor Coleman. Tom begins a relationship with Gina Tessaro, a labour activist and 25-year downtown east-side resident. Gina

2003 Bandiere series. Alphonso de Liquori 2×2 & 4x4ft *

Joins the Ian Wallace Band playing keyboard, occasionally drum-kit and eventually alto sax. Clarinet 1959 “Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.” Plutarch.

2004 Joins Foster White Gallery, Seattle, exhibits Bandiere series.

“Formalism, graph paper for the psyche.” T.B. Mnemonic

2006 No Sleep, a file of 30 surveillance photos, first photo essay since Skwat Doc. no-sleep-woma ns-sample ns-hang ns-curator's-text

2007 Rosebud series @ Foster/White Pram

Work included in the final chapter of a book surveying abstract painting in Canada since the 1920’ s. Nasgaard, Roald, Abstract Painting in Canada.

Photo portrait in Havana photo

2008 Fabric series @ Vancouver Bau-Xi, h3-1r2bvcore 4x4ft *

Essay in defense of polyester. Right of Spring

Self-portrait Feb. 14, self-portrate, My Beautiful Gina

2009 Polar Series exhibited at the Toronto Bau-Xi. Shackelton Range 4x4ft *

Tony Nadler ‘s 13 Bicycles an exhibition curated by Tom at Bestway Studio, Feb. 13-14, 2009. Tony’s 13 bikes

2010 - Current

2010, January 31st e-mail from Gordon Hatt including the following two jpgs: “Shacks in art, so what is this….some kind of Vancouver thing?” Gordon.

Ken Lum 3/4 scale Liz Magor 3/4 scale

Email to Gordon

Sept. 3, 2010, Irony. The Lum Sangri-la work has to come down to make room for the next installation. Rather than let the 3/4 scale cabins be trashed, as is the case for most expired props, the Corporate District of North Vancouver, who trashed the original skwats, asked to have props put in storage until they can find them an exhibition space within the District.

Permanent installation, back in the District of North Vancouver 42 years later. Mud Install

Mar. 2010, Polar Series exhibited at Foster/White, Seattle. F/W1 F/W2 F/W3

Sept. 2010, Sand pile, 1973, sandpile included in Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980, Traffic: Conceptual Art in Canada c. 1965 to 1980 University of Toronto, Dalhousie University, Art Gallery of Alberta and Concordia University in 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery in 2012, Badischer Kunsttverein, Germany in 2013.

Dec. 2010, Odd coincidence relating to Polar Series, Sandow

Feb. 2011, Polar Series at Vancouver Bau-xi, Polar.

Mar. 2012, First small porcelain panels matched with similar size polymer panels exhibited in the NCECA show at Foster/White. A shipment of larger porcelain panels arrive in Vancouver from Jingdezhen in July and a few are included in a show at the Toronto Bau-Xi in Oct.

May 2012, Porcelain & I A six page essay giving a condensed overview of experiences since the mid 1960’s which led to current works in porcelain.

Mar. 2013, A much larger selection of the three sizes of porcelain panels are exhibited with polymer panels at the Vancouver Bau-Xi.

Feb. 2014, “Moths drink the tears of sleeping birds“ Three pages explaining the titles of my most recent polymer series.

Mar. 2014, An exhibition of porcelain and polymer panels at Foster/White.”Moths drink the tears of sleeping birds” Two pages explaining the titles of my most recent polymer series.

Works illustrated Foster/White_2014Catalog. Violet Shift, porcelain, 44x22inches.

Jan. 9 to April 12 2015, A survey exhibition of work from 1965 to the present at the Belkin Gallery, UBC curated by Scott Watson. invitation,

No sleep shown simultaneously at the Koerner Library, UBC text, Koerner.

Galerie St. Laurent, Marseille (an exhibition of the best works shown at Galerie du Tableau, Marseille in the past 25 years). Tom's Vancouver music group members Ian Wallace and Jack Jeffrey also have works at the St. Laurent. No Sleep at Galerie du Tableau, 2007. exterior

Feb 9-28, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, Echo, a homage to a 45-year relationship with the Bau-Xi Gallery. Reflecting on the first exhibition with the gallery in 1970, a twenty-five-year hiatus and then yearly shows from 1995 to the present day.

Feb. 2016, Moths drink the trears of sleeping birds at the Toronto Bau-Xi.

May 2017, An Ineffable Presence at Foster White. Peribatodes 24x24inches

Shoot-out in Gibara photo by Gina Tessaro.

March, Threads at CSA with Bernadette Phan.

Sept. book launch of the UBC publication of Tom Burrows, 1965-2015 at Bau-Xi, Vancouver. book

Nov. book launch at Leon Rooke's Toronto Annex coach-house.

2018 - 2024 The Curve of Time Series