معرفی
A.K. Burns is an interdisciplinary artist and Associate Professor in the Department of Art at Hunter College, City University of New York. Based in New York, Burns explores feminist and queer perspectives through video, installation, sculpture, and collaborative practices, examining systems of value and the body as a contested domain for socio-political negotiation.
Burns' research centers on the intersections of landscapes, human bodies, and water through the decade-long Negative Space series (2015-2023), which uses science fiction as a framework to challenge societal norms and power structures. This work investigates environmental vulnerability, marginalized communities, and the concept of 'negative space' as fertile ground for restructuring social relationships and fostering agency from subordinate positions. Their practice operates at the nexus of language and materiality, deliberately troubling systems that assign value.
Major exhibitions include Palais de Tokyo (Paris), MMK Museum of Modern Art (Frankfurt), Harvard Art Museums, and the Henry Art Gallery (Seattle) where What is Perverse is Liquid (2023) is currently on view through April 2025. The Negative Space cycle comprises four multi-channel video installations: A Smeary Spot (2015), Living Room (2017), Leave No Trace (2019), and What is Perverse is Liquid (2023), featuring recurring characters from Burns' queer community.
- 2023 Berlin Prize Fellow at American Academy in Berlin
- 2021 Guggenheim Fellow
- 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters Art Purchase Program
- 2018 NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Interdisciplinary Art
- 2016 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University
- 2015 Creative Capital Foundation Visual Arts Award
As a founding member of W.A.G.E. (Working Artists in the Greater Economy) since 2008, Burns actively advocates for fair labor practices in the arts. Current projects include collaborations with poet Natalie Diaz exploring land-water-language relationships, and the official soundtrack release for Community Action Center featuring performances by Mx. Justin Vivian Bond and Shannon Funchess. Burns' work appears in permanent collections including MoMA, Tate Modern, and the Whitney Museum.
