The Greene Naftali Gallery is pleased to present Dog Days, an installation of new sculptural work by New York- based artist Tom Burr. On display from May 10 through June 15, 2002, this exhibition is courtesy of American Fine Arts, Co.
In previous work, Burr has explored the psychological and sexual half-lives of public space and architecture. Public restrooms, Times Square bars, and walk-in porn video booths, among other sites, have served as touchstones for Burr’s ongoing investigation of the ways identity (homosexual identity, in particular) is constituted by or negotiated within the social inscription of physical, built space. Custom-built for Greene Naflali’s galleries, Dog Days is comprised of black wood cabinet units, low nested tables, and photo panels containing images of dogs, and creates a sense of neurotically private, almost claustrophobic, space. Strapped together (or to the gallery walls) by black steel braces, the installation’s components exhibit possible allegiances between Minimalism’s phenomenological, "theatrical” forms and the luxe interiors of S/M parlors, dressing rooms, or designer apartments. The eroticized environment points, as well, to the current slipperiness between high art and commercial design: one thinks of Rem Koolhaas’ vaguely sinister, vaguely seductive Prada boutique in SoHo (which, in its own way, is an homage. to the mediated complexity of the minimalist object).
Burr’s work was the subject of a major solo exhibition, entitled "Low Slung," at Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany, in 2000. An accompanying catalog edited by Karola Grässlin (Lukas & Sternberg, 2000) contained essays by Carina Herring, Juliane Rebentisch, and writings by Tom Burr. Burr’s own writings on his projects have appeared in various journals and publications including October, Documents, and Stud, edited by Joel Sanders (Princeton University Press, 1996). A sculpture by Burr entitled Deep Purple will be exhibited at the Whitney Museum this summer in the museum’s sculpture courtyard.