Lucky as ever, we recently took a private tour of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery‘s newest exhibit, featuring the work of legendary B.C. artist Tom Burrows. As if being guided through solo by museum director Scott Watson wasn’t treat enough, we spied none other than the artist himself diligently working to complete the installations before opening night on January 8th.
The show, which runs until April 12th, took us on a journey of Burrows’ work from the 1960s to present, starting with the sculptural installations on the Maple Wood Mudflats that first propelled him to prominence. We simultaneously learned that social activism around land rights and squatter communities as well as protest performance art are a big part of this artist’s story (just ask mom and dad if they recall news of a naked, silver-painted man walking across the Second Narrows Bridge).
Our look at the exhibit revealed some of Burrows early sculptures—geometric shapes in rusted iron—alongside images of his iconic hand-built Hornby Island houses, simple and with open floor plans that read, architecturally speaking, as rustic, mid-century modern. The several gallery walls dedicated to more recent polymer resin sculptures really appealed: despite being completely flat, these pieces are lent enormous depth thanks to Burrows’ choice of rich, monochromatic hues.
What we took away from Burrows’ work: it can really pay off to be a stick in the mud. —Michelle Gadd
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, 1825 Main Mall, Vancouver, 604-822-2759, www.belkin.ubc.ca
Top photo by Howard Ursuliak.
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