Tom Burckhardt is known for exploring the artistic process and subverting the boundary between representation and abstraction. Noting his avoidance of painting on canvas (preferring to use book-pages and molded plastic) and traditional art materials for his sculptures, critic John Yuan described Burckhardt’s aim as to “destabilize the grand tradition of painting and sculpture while simultaneously finding non-nostalgic ways to honor them.” Burckhardt’s 2011 installation “157 Elements of a Painting” attempted to deconstruct notions of painting with 157 bold, colorful images that contained quasi-recognizable forms with fragmentary motifs and painterly elements. In the same spirit, Full Stop (2005-06), a detailed cardboard-and-black-paint recreation of an artist’s studio—complete with art books on the shelves and a blank canvas—was an attempt to undermine the material aspect of installation art.
Tom Burckhardt is known for exploring the artistic process and subverting the boundary between representation and abstraction. Noting his avoidance of painting on canvas (preferring to use book-pages and molded plastic) and traditional art materials for his sculptures, critic John Yuan described Burckhardt’s aim as to “destabilize the grand tradition of painting and sculpture while simultaneously finding non-nostalgic ways to honor them.” Burckhardt’s 2011 installation “157 Elements of a Painting” attempted to deconstruct notions of painting with 157 bold, colorful images that contained quasi-recognizable forms with fragmentary motifs and painterly elements. In the same spirit, Full Stop (2005-06), a detailed cardboard-and-black-paint recreation of an artist’s studio—complete with art books on the shelves and a blank canvas—was an attempt to undermine the material aspect of installation art.