Victor Burgin

Victor Burgin (born 1941) is an artist and a writer.

Burgin was born in Sheffield in England. He studied art at the Royal College of Art, in London,from 1962 to 1965 (A.R.C.A., 1st Class, 1965) before going to the United States to study at Yale University (M.F.A. 1967). He taught at Trent Polytechnic from 1967 to 1973 and at the School of Communication, Polytechnic of Central London from 1973 to 1988. From 1988 to 2001 Burgin lived and worked in San Francisco . He taught in the History of Consciousness program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he became Professor Emeritus of History of Consciousness] . In 2000 he was Robert Gwathmey Chair in Art and Architecture, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York. In 2001, he was appointed Millard Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Burgin has also taught at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. In 2005 he received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Sheffield Hallam University (Hon. DUniv).

Burgin first came to attention as a conceptual artist in the late 1960s. He has worked with photography and film, calling painting "the anachronistic daubing of woven fabrics with coloured mud". His work is influenced by theorists and philosophers such as Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Michel Foucault and Roland Barthes.

In 1986, Burgin was nominated for the Turner Prize for his exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Kettle's Yard Gallery in Cambridge and for a collection of his theoretical writings (The End of Art Theory) and a monograph of his visual work (Between).

olo exhibitions

2008 Victor Burgin, Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven, Germany [http://www.kunsthalle-bremerhaven.de]

2007-8 The Little House, Mak Center, Schindler House, Los Angeles [http://www.makcenter.org/]

2007-8 La Cinquième Promenade et autres œuvres, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Genève

2007 Fogliazzi, Galerie Art & Essai, Université Rennes 2 Haute-Bretagne, Rennes

2006 Voyage to Italy, Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal

2006 Voyage to Italy, Thomas Zander Gallery, Köln

2005 The Little House, Christine Burgin Gallery, New York

2004 Assemblée dans un Parc, Lilles 2004, Galerie l'Aquarium, Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts de Valenciennes

2003 Victor Burgin, LisboaPhoto 2003, Cordoaria Nacional, Torreão Nascente, Lisbon

2003 Room,1970, Christine Burgin Gallery, New York

2003 Listen to Britain, Norwich Gallery, Norwich

2003 Listen to Britain, Cornerhouse, Manchester

2002 Watergate, Matt’s Gallery, London

2002 Listen to Britain, Arnolfini, Bristol (inspired by the World War II propaganda film "Listen to Britain")

2001 Victor Burgin,(Retrospective) Tapies Foundation, Barcelona

2001 Nietzsche's Paris and Studies for Video, Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert, Paris

2001 Nietzsche's Paris, Christine Burgin Gallery, New York

2000 Nietzsche's Paris, Architectural Association, London

1999 Lichtung, Weimar 99 Cultural Festival, Weimar, Germany

1999 The Glue Man and other studies for video, John Weber Gallery, New York

1998-9 Case History, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

1999 The Embrace and Studies for Video’ Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg, Austria

1998 Love Letters, Möcsarnok (Kunsthalle), Budapest

1996 Love Stories, John Weber Gallery, New York

1995 The End, State University of New York at Buffalo Art Gallery/Research Center in Art + Culture

1994 Venise (video), Museum of Modern Art, New York

1994 The End, John Weber Gallery, New York;

1994 Les Quatres Saisons, Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris

1993 Family Romance, Center for Research in Contemporary Art, University of Texas at Arlington

1992 Fiction Film, John Weber Gallery, New York

1992 Passages, (Retrospective), Espace Poulain, Ville de Blois, France

1991 Passages, (Retrospective), Musee d'Art Moderne Villeneuve d'Ascq, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France

1990 Family Romance and Other Works, Karl Bornstein Gallery, Los Angeles

1990 Family Romance, John Weber Gallery, New York

1989 Object Relations, John Weber Gallery, New York

1989 Minnesota Abstract, Film in the Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota

1989 Victor Burgin, Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris

1988 Park Edge, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

1988 Victor Burgin, Le Casa D’Arte, Milan

1986 Victor Burgin, (Retrospective) ICA, London

1986 Victor Burgin, Kettles Yard, Cambridge

1986 Victor Burgin, Orchard Gallery, Derry

1986 Office at Night, John Weber Gallery, New York

1986 Office at Night, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Albert and Vera List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts

1986 Office at Night, Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Illinois

1984 The Bridge, John Weber Gallery, New York

1984 The Bridge Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris

1984 Impressions Gallery of Photography, York

1982 Tales from Freud, John Weber Gallery, New York

1982 Tales from Freud, Yarlow-Salzman Gallery, Toronto

1981 Zwiczek Polskich Artsow Fotografickow, Warsaw

1981 Victor Burgin, Musee de la Ville de Calais, Calais

1980 In Lyon, Espace Lyonnais d’Art Contemporain, Lyon

1980 Victor Burgin US 77/Zoo 78, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York

1980 Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris

1979 John Weber Gallery, New York

1979 Zoo, DAAD Gallery, Berlin

1979 Zoo, Hetzler Gallery, Stuttgart

1978 Victor Burgin, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford

1978 Victor Burgin US 77, Galerie Durand-Dessert, Paris

1977 Victor Burgin US 77, John Weber Gallery, New York

1977 Victor Burgin, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

1976 Lei Feng, Foksal Gallery, Poznan, Poland

1976 Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London

1975 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris

1975 Paul Maenz, Cologne

1975 Galleria Daniel Templon, Milan

1974 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris

1974 Lisson Gallery, London

1973 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris

1973 Paul Maenz, Cologne

1973 Paul Maenz, Brussels

1972 Galleria Daniel Templon, Milan

1971 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris

1971 Paul Maenz, Cologne

1971 Galleria Daniel Templon, Milan

1970 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris

Public commissions

2004 Restored, Permanent video installation for London Symphony Orchestra, St. Luke’s, Old Street, London.

1994 Permanent video installation for the Médiatheque d’Orléans, Ville d’Orléans, France.

1994 Design for permanent video installation for the Hotel Furkablick, Furkapasshöhe, Switzerland.

1993 Venise, 30 min video, Ville de Marseille, France.

1993 Poster for Images pour la lutte contre le sida, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, France/Agence française de lutte contre le sida: national poster campaign with posters commissioned from an international selection of 35 artists.

1989 Original print for ‘Estampes et Revolution: 200 Ans Après,’ Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, France (100 sets of prints, commissioned from an international selection of artists, and distributed throughout France as part of the Bicentennial Celebration of the French Revolution).

1989 Fall, Video-wall [Edited version (9 monitors)] , two minute videodisk programme, Tate Gallery, London.

1987 Fall, Video-wall (36 monitors), two minute videodisk programme, Mississauga Shopping Mall, and other locations, Toronto.

1976 What does possession mean to you?,’ color poster, 1000 copies posted in the streets in the center of Newcastle upon Tyne, summer; other poster works, various dates.

Books and Monographs

2007 Objets Temporels, Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes

2006 Victor Burgin—Voyage to Italy, Hatje Cantz 2004 The Remembered Film, London, Reaktion Books

2004 Ensayos, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili

2002 Relocating, London and Bristol, Arnolfini

2001 Victor Burgin, Barcelona, Fundació Antoni Tàpies

2000 Shadowed, London, Architectural Association

2000 Victor Burgin: Robert Gwathmey Lectures, New York, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art 1997 Venise, London, Black Dog Publishing 1997 Szerelmes Levelek/Love Letters, Mücsarnok Museum, Budapest

1996 In/Different Spaces: place and memory in visual culture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press

1996 Some Cities, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, and London, Reaktion Books

1995 Japanese translation of: The End of Art Theory: Criticism and Postmodernity (see 1986, below), Tokyo, Keiso Shobo Publishers

1995 History Painting, Buffalo, University at Buffalo Art Gallery/Research Center in Art + Culture 1991 Passages, Lille, Musée d’art moderne de la Communaté Urbaine de Lille, Villeneuve d’Ascq 1989 Taideteorian Loppu, Helsinki, Suomen Valokuvataiteen Museon Säätiö, Literos, collection of essays by Burgin in Finnish translation

1988 Victor Burgin, Opere 1982-1986, Milan, Le Case d’Arte

1988 Victor Burgin: Office at Night and Danaïdes/Dames, Charlotte, North Carolina, Knight Gallery, City of Charlotte 1986 The End of Art Theory: Criticism and Postmodernity, Macmillan Press, London and Basingstoke, and Humanities Press International, New Jersey (l986), reprinted 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1996

1986 Between, Basil Blackwell, Oxford and New York 1986 Formations of Fantasy, (co-edited with Donald, J. and Kaplan, C.), Methuen, London

1982 Thinking Photography, Victor Burgin (ed.), [Burgin: Introduction, three essays, bibliography] , The Macmillan Press Ltd., London and Basingstoke, and Humanities Press International, New Jersey (l982), reprinted 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987 (twice), 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994

1982 Hôtel Latône, Calais, Edition Musée de Calais

1977 Family, New York, Lapp Princess Press, Ltd., in association with Printer Matter, Inc.

1977 Victor Burgin, Eindhoven, Stedelijk van abbemuseum

1976 Two Essays on Art, Photography and Semiotics, London, Robert Self Publications

1973 Work and Commentary, London, Latimer

External links

* [http://www.christineburgin.com/burgin_victor/index.html Christine Burgin Gallery Website]
* [http://galeriezander.kunstmarkt.com/index2.html?lang=en&innerheight=508 Thomas Zander Gallery Website]
* [http://www.conceptual-art.net/ Ghislain Mollet-Viéville-Art Minimal et Conceptuel Website]
* [http://www.ubu.com/concept/burgin_moment.html The Ubuweb-Anthology of Conceptual Writing Website]
* [http://humwww.ucsc.edu/HistCon/ History of Consciousness, UCSC website]
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/research/tateresearch/tatepapers/05spring/burgin.htm The Separateness of Things on Tate Website]
* [http://dreher.netzliteratur.net/3_Konzeptkunst_Titel.html Thomas Dreher: Intermedia Art: Konzeptuelle Kunst] with two German articles on Victor Burgin (Memory Piece 1969, Park Edge 1987, Angelus Novus 1995)
* [http://www.ideamagazine.ro/index.php?nv=1&go=2&mg=53&ch=151&ar=573 To Avoid Any Essentialist Idea Of "The Artist"] interview with Victor Burgin by Ovidiu Tichindeleanu (IDEA arts + society 21/2005)