Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Tom from Eva


On my Instagram account a couple days ago I posted an Eva Hesse drawing from a drawing show mounted from various collections and what might remain of her estate. An unusual drawing for Hesse, given what I know of her 2D and 3D work; maybe more like a doodle started while on the phone and finished later with a pink felt pen or pencil crayon?

A day later the curator Charo Neville left a comment: that Eva Hesse is an important influence on Tom Burrows, and to underline that, she mentioned a recent doc on Tom. So I watched the doc, waiting for Tom to mention Hesse, but soon enough surrendered to the here and now, and what a joy it is to be with Tom at every breath.

I knew enough about Tom's life and work that I could watch this doc with a knowing nod. I'd curated a couple of shows that involved the Maplewood Mudflat squats, where Tom was a builder and a resident, so when the doc focused on Tom's Maplewood days, I braced myself for the inevitable images of the District of North Vancouver burning down the houses. Not that I hadn't seen those images before, but the credits under "TOM BURROW'S HOME, DECEMBER 1971" were new to me. Yes, I knew Jerry Williams took the "PHOTO" (top, dramatically cropped, given Instagram's penchant for the square),  but "COLOUR" by TOM BURROWS? That is ... so Tom!

No comments:

Post a Comment