Tom Burr

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Tom Burr, Five (An Oblique Autobiography), 2024

Tom Burr (b. 1963 in New Haven, Connecticut) is a conceptual artist who lives and works in New York and Connecticut. He attended the School of Visual Arts and the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York. Burr's work revisits the formal vocabulary of minimalism and post-minimalism, and explores the themes of homosexuality, public versus private spaces and architecture. He has shown extensively throughout Europe and the Americas. He most recently was the subject of a solo exhibition entitled Hinged Figures at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT.

Burr’s work has been collected by major museums internationally, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland; MOCA, Los Angeles, CA; MuMOK, Vienna, Austria; New York Public Library, New York, NY; Sammlung Grasslin, Germany; Sammlung Verbund, Vienna, Austria; Ludwig Museum, Koln, Germany; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; FRAC, Champagne Ardenne, France; FRAC, Nord-Pas de Calais, France; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.

Torrington Project, a major monograph dedicated to the artist's 2021-24 landmark installation-studio-exhibition space of the same name, will be published by Primary Information in Fall 2025.

The Torrington Project

Installation view of The Torrington Project

The Torrington Project

Exhibitions

Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: It would storm

It would storm

13 Sep – 2 Nov 2024

Galerie Neu, Berlin
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Games People Play

Games People Play

10 Jan – 24 Feb 2024

Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Tom Burr

Tom Burr

10 Mar – 4 May 2023

39 Walker
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Hélio-centricities (New York)

Hélio-centricities (New York)

15 Jan – 6 Mar 2021

39 Walker
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Hélio-Centricidades: Coda

Hélio-Centricidades: Coda

3 Nov – 8 Dec 2019

Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: MATRIX 182 / Hinged Figures

MATRIX 182 / Hinged Figures

6 Jun – 8 Sep 2019

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Queer Abstraction

Queer Abstraction

1 Jun – 8 Sep 2019

Des Moines Art Center
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Hélio-Centricities

Hélio-Centricities

23 Mar – 25 May 2019

Auroras
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Sedimental

Sedimental

15 Feb – 26 Aug 2018

SCAD Museum of Art
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: No Access

No Access

14 Dec 2017 – 17 Sep 2018

SCAD Museum of Art
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: concrete realities

concrete realities

29 Jun – 11 Jul 2017

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Sur / Face: Mirrors

Sur / Face: Mirrors

24 Jun – 1 Oct 2017

Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Cosima von Bonin + Tom Burr

Cosima von Bonin + Tom Burr

10 Jun – 1 Oct 2017

Westfälischer Kunstverein
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Surplus of Myself

Surplus of Myself

10 Jun – 1 Oct 2017

Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
Installation view of Tom Burr / New Haven

Tom Burr / New Haven

14 May – 5 November 2017

Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: University of Disasters

University of Disasters

30 Mar – 22 Apr 2017

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Question the Wall Itself

Question the Wall Itself

20 Nov 2016 – 21 May 2017

Walker Art Center
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: I Beam U Channel

I Beam U Channel

30 Jun – 12 Aug 2016

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Put Down

Put Down

8 Apr – 31 May 2016

Piece*Unique
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Circa

Circa

29 Oct – 23 Dec 2015

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Screen

Screen

13 Apr – 25 May 2014

CCS Bard Galleries
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Take it or Leave it

Take it or Leave it

9 Feb – 18 Jun 2014

Hammer Museum
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: A Chromatic Loss, Curated by Jeffrey Uslip

A Chromatic Loss, Curated by Jeffrey Uslip

9 Jan – 15 Feb 2014

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Dressage

Dressage

26 Oct – 2 Nov 2013

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Vertical Club, Curated by Will Benedict

Vertical Club, Curated by Will Benedict

4 Apr – 27 Apr 2013

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue

21 Sep – 21 Nov 2012

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Now I Am Quietly Waiting For The Catastrophe Of My Personality To Seem Beautiful Again, And Interesting, and Modern: Curated by Tom Burr

Now I Am Quietly Waiting For The Catastrophe Of My Personality To Seem Beautiful Again, And Interesting, and Modern: Curated by Tom Burr

14 Sep – 27 Oct 2012

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Room Four

Room Four

14 Jun – 12 Jun 2012

Art Basel
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Migros Meets Museion

Migros Meets Museion

10 Jun – 6 Sep 2012

Museion, Bolzano
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Deep Wood Drive

Deep Wood Drive

7 Mar – 26 Apr 2012

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Black Lab

Black Lab

1 Mar – 5 Apr 2011

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Gravity Moves Me

Gravity Moves Me

4 Feb – 17 Apr 2011

FRAC Champagne-Ardenne
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Four Sides to Myself

Four Sides to Myself

23 Jul – 23 Aug 2010

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: sentence

sentence

10 Sep – 24 Oct 2009

Bortolami
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Tom Burr and Monica Bonvicini

Tom Burr and Monica Bonvicini

5 Sep 2009 – 3 Jan 2010

Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Consider the Lobster

Consider the Lobster

27 Jun – 20 Dec 2009

CCS Bard Galleries
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Political/Minimal

Political/Minimal

20 Nov 2008 – 25 Jan 2009

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: La Fete Est Permanente/The Eternal Network

La Fete Est Permanente/The Eternal Network

1 Oct 2008 – 9 Jan 2009

FRAC Champagne-Ardenne
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Addict-Love

Addict-Love

13 Jan – 30 Apr 2008

SculptureCenter
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Extrospective: Works 1994 – 2006

Extrospective: Works 1994 – 2006

8 Apr – 18 Jun 2006

Musée Cantonal Des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Tom Burr and Walter Pfeiffer

Tom Burr and Walter Pfeiffer

14 Nov 2001 – 19 Jan 2008

Swiss Institute
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Black Box Black Bulletin Board

Black Box Black Bulletin Board

1 Apr 1998

Galerie Belvedere, Vienna
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Stainless

Stainless

1 Apr 1997

American Fine Arts, Co.
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: 42nd Street Structures

42nd Street Structures

1 Apr 1995

American Fine Arts, Co.
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Circa ’77

Circa ’77

1 Apr 1995

Kunsthalle Zürich
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Three Proposals

Three Proposals

1 Apr 1994

American Fine Arts, Co.
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: Construction of an American Garden

Construction of an American Garden

1 Apr 1993

American Fine Arts, Co.
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: An American Garden

An American Garden

1 Apr 1993

Sonsbeek Park, Arnhem
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: The Storage Project

The Storage Project

1 Apr 1993

Unite D'Habitation Le Corbusier, Firminy
Featured Image (Installation View) of exhibtion: A Ramble in Central Park

A Ramble in Central Park

1 Jan 1992

White Columns

Press

What Happened to the Institutional Critique?: A Roundtable November May 2023Robert Sandler In the Studio: Tom Burr revisits, reflects, and thinks anew. Art21 Aug 2023Tom Burr & Gordon Hall The Politics and Erotics of Receptiveness FlashArt Dec 2024James Crump The Homecoming: For Tom Burr, all roads lead to Torrington, CT The Upstate Diary May 2024Tom Burr In the Studio: Tom Burr revisits, reflects, and thinks anew. art21 Aug 2023David Joselit Tom Burr: Do Say Gay Artforum Summer 2023Blake Oetting Blake Oetting on Tom Burr Mar 2023Pierre-Alexandre Mateo and Charles Teyssou Priapic architectural tissues: TOM BURR in conversation with PIERRE-ALEXANDRE MATEOS and CHARLES TEYSSOU 032c Oct 2022Blake Oetting Tom Burr in conversation with Blake Oetting November Feb 2022Charlie Mills Tom Burr, Born 1963 Emergent Magazine, Issue 7 A/W 2021Artspace Editors James Crump – The Art for Home Interview Artspace Sept 2021Wadsworth Atheneum Sculptor Tom Burr Redefines Portraiture in Wadsworth Antheneum Exhibit West Hartford News May 2019Zöe Lescaze What Happens When Site-Specific Art Outlasts Its Surroundings? The New York Times Style Magazine May 2019Patrick Guilford Tom Burr creates installations harkening back to age old landscape tradition District Mar 2018Sam Korman Under Construction: The never-ending renovation of Tom Burr Art Review Mar 2018Brienne Walsh If You Love Contemporary Art, Go To Savannah To Visit The Museum of Art At SCAD Forbes Feb 2018Interview by Stefan Kalmar Appropriation-as-Survival L'Officiel Art, no. 24 Dec 2017Mark Byrnes A Complicated Second Life for a Brutalist Icon CityLab Oct 2017Evan Moffitt Tom Burr Frieze Oct 2017David Markus Tom Burr at Armstrong Rubber Company/Pirelli Tire Building Art in America Oct 2017Sabrine Tarasoff Tom Burr “Surplus of Myself” at Westfälischer Kustverein, Münster Mousse Magazine Aug 2017Sarah Fritchey Placing Pieces of Local History in an Empty Marcel Breuer Building Hyperallergic Aug 2017Allen Appel Pirelli Building Reopens… To Art New Haven Independent Jul 2017Courtney Maum Tom Burr’s Latest Project is Inspired by Iconic Building in New Haven Norfolk Now Apr 2017Sheri Pasquarella Panorama: Interview with Artist Tom Burr Pin-Up S/S 2017Tom Burr Body/Building Yes and No Magazine Apr 2017Tom Burr 500 Words: Tom Burr Artforum Feb 2017Courtney Maum Tom Burr Interview Dec 2016Francesco Vezzoli Tom Burr and Francesco Vezzoli in Conversation Mousse Magazine Dec 2016Alan Feuer Art Dealers Move Out of the Gallery and Into a Taco Bell The New York Times Oct 2016Alex Kitnick Unité as White Cube Harvard Design Magazine Jan 2016Alan Ruiz Tom Burr BOMB Magazine Dec 2015William Meyers Tom Burr: Circa The Wall Street Journal Nov 2015Scott Indrisek Cruising and the City: Tom Burr at Bortolami Gallery Blouin Artinfo Nov 2015Nicholas Chittenden Morgan Critics’ Picks: Tom Burr Artforum Nov 2015 The Lookout: Tom Burr at Bortolami Art in America Nov 2015Brian Boucher Cruising Grounds in Tom Burr’s Bortolami Show Artnet Oct 2015George Baker Notes on Painting in Disguise in Take It or Leave It: Institution, Image, Ideology, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA Apr 2014Jeffrey Uslip A Chromatic Loss The Kinsky Feb 2014 ‘A Chromatic Loss’ at Bortolami Gallery, New York Mousse Magazine Jan 2014Whitney Kimball White: 'A Chromatic Loss' Art F City Jan 2014Rosita Giammarino Tom Burr Dust Magazine Online Nov 2013Tom Burr and Fionn Meade Restless Painting Mousse Magazine Jun 2013Zoë Lescaze, Andrew Russeth, Dan Duray and Michael H. Miller Reviewing Artforum’s Advertisements Gallerist NY Apr 2013 Now I Am Quietly Waiting For The Catastrophe Of My Personality To Seem Beautiful Again, And Interesting and Modern Time Out Sept 2012David Everett Howe Tom Burr: Deep Wood Drive Art Review May 2012 Goings On About Town The New Yorker Apr 2012 GALLERIES CHELSEA TOM BURR The New Yorker Apr 2012Michael Wilson Tom Burr: ‘deep wood drive' Time Out New York Apr 2012Juliana Balestin Tom Burr at Bortolami, New York Purple Diary Apr 2012 Lisa Eppich Don't Wait Till The Weekend To Scope Out This Unique Art Exhibition Refinery 29 Mar 2012Dan Duray Tom Burr Offers Nostalgia and Blankets at Bortolami Gallerist NY Mar 2012Alissa Bennett Tom Burr Interview Crush Fanzine Mar 2012Stephanie Tran Tom Burr Dossier Magazine Mar 2012Jeffery Kastner Tom Burr Artforum Mar 2012Courtney Fiske Critic's Pick Artforum Mar 2012 Goings on about town: Tom Burr The New Yorker Mar 2012Johnny Misheff Visiting Artists: Tom Burr The New York Times Style Magazine Mar 2011Brian Boucher Tom Burr Bortolami Art in America Nov 2009Michael Wilson Tom Burr at Bortolami Artforum Nov 2009Writers at the New Yorker Galleries - Chelsea: Tom Burr The New Yorker Oct 2009Tom Burr Sleazy City: 42nd Street Structures and Some Qualities of Life October 85 Summer 1998Tom Burr Just Outside the Museum… Kunst + Museum Journaal, Vol. 4 #6, Sept 1993

Writings

  1. I Ask Myself
    Modern Matter
    2021
  2. A Questionnaire on Monuments
    October 165
    Summer 2018
  3. Gravity Moves Me
    Mousse Issue #46
    December 2013
  4. Gravity Moves Me
    Picpus
    2011
  5. Why I’m An Artist
    Corduroy
    2010
  6. Questions of Style
    ArtForum
    2010
  7. Sleazy City: 42nd Street Structures and Some Qualities of Life
    October 85
    Summer 1998
  8. Trash
    Platzwechsel (Exhibition Catalog)
    June 1995
  9. Unearthing the Public Toilet: a series of ruminations on the habitual treatment, and mistreatment, of an American type building…(short version)
    Documents
    Spring/Summer 1994
  10. Just outside the Museum…
    Kunst & Museum Journaal
    1993
  11. Tom Burr in
    Project Unite
    1993

Publications

Book cover on plain gray background with title of Tom Burr Anthology: Writings 1991 – 2015

Tom Burr Anthology: Writings 1991 – 2015

FRAC Champagne-Ardenne with Sternberg Press
2015

Book cover on plain gray background with title of Tom Burr

Tom Burr

Köhn: DuMont Buchverlag
2009

Book cover on plain gray background with title of Tom Burr: Moods

Tom Burr: Moods

Walther Konig
2008

Book cover on plain gray background with title of Tom Burr: Extrospective

Tom Burr: Extrospective

JRP/Ringier
2006