Tom Burckhardt

The Tibor de Nagy Gallery is pleased to present an installation of 157 abstract works on paper arranged on a gallery wall by Tom Burckhardt. The exhibition will also include a selection of vintage book covers on which the artist has drawn and painted abstract illustrations.

Continuing his exploration of the artistic process, 157 Elements of a Painting deconstructs the canonical notion of a painting as each element teeters between figuration and abstraction. According to Burckhardt, these oil works on old book pages “assemble autonomously, awaiting instructions to cohere into an image, or they fracture and dissipate.” The viewer is tasked with assembling the bold, stenciled-like images into his or her own whole “painting.” The fragmentary motifs, forms, and colors create a playful index of painterly elements. While some forms may seem to be recognizable, they are not assuredly identifiable.

Burckhardt has had over fifteen solo expositions, his most recent at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in 2006. The artist is the recipient of the International Association of Art Critics Award, the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, and two Pollack-Krasner Foundation grants.