We had driven past his property on numerous occasions on our way to York from Beverley. We were intrigued by his sign by the road - a car bonnet with "3rd Degree Burns" splashed across it - and wondered what anyone would be doing living at an abandoned granite quarry, surrounded by old semi-trailer tyres, huge chunks of rock and an enormous shed that looked like it housed monster trucks. This was his home, all part of Tim's enigmatic persona.
An artist of tremendous, divisive and eclectic talent, Tim's work has always caused a deluge of differing opinions. His artist's profile, which I edited from articles on the net, describes Tim as
"a protégé of renowned West Australian artist Robert Juniper, his teacher at high school and whom Tim claims saved his life.
His controversial early performance installations had audiences debating whether he was an artist or a sensationalist and after a series of gallery arrests and shutdowns, he relocated to New York where he lived on and off for twenty years.
He hasn’t staged an exhibition in a major Australian art gallery since 1979.
Prescribing to Marshall McLuhan’s idea “the medium is the message”, Tim is a painter by trade but has produced sculpture, performance, theatre and film works. He made art films long before the genre was created; shorts and features that are award winning and have screened in major film festivals all over the world and continue to do so.
Tim now lives on the outskirts of York, a country town 130 kilometres east of Perth, and continues to paint and create works in different mediums that push boundaries and challenge audiences.
A survey of his work spanning forty years is currently touring Australian galleries and one gets the sense the controversial artist is on the verge of a late-in-life resurgence.
“It is almost a crime to attempt to tell Burns see-it-to-believe-it life in 5 minutes”, said Director Amelia Phillips “His work pushes boundaries, is fun and makes you think; life would be incredibly boring without characters like Tim Burns."
Tim exploded into our lives just as we were contemplating when and how we were going to open the East End Gallery. Part mentor, bully, friend with unbelievable generosity, he dragged us kicking and screaming into setting a date to open the Gallery. With the help of his York sidekick, ceramic sculptor Murray Cook, who has become another fabulous friend, he marshalled the artist troops and made sure we had a stocked Gallery for 19 December 2014.
Opening the East End Gallery took our breath away. Four months later, we expanded into the front section of Shop 4, previously a youth centre, second-hand wares shop and a Dalgety's rural suppliers. We were finally able to display Tim's four-wall-filling panels depicting his quarry.
Following Michael's 60th birthday party, Tim slipped back out of our lives. We had none of his pieces, which was really saddening, as he had been such a tour de force in the birth of our Gallery.
After trips all over the world, Tim returned for Sculptures by the Sea this month. We were finally able to contact him (he is notorious for not answering calls, e-mails, texts or messages) and he offered us one of his spectacular works.
"Property as Theft" is now hanging in the East End Gallery awaiting the launching of the Expansion Exhibition. Trying to describe his painting is pointless. Guests need to see Tim Burns for themselves.
Guide, believer, friend all rolled into the extraordinary mix that is Tim Burns
"Property is Theft"
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