Tyler Clark Burke

The absolute best thing about having this blog is the amazingly talented people I have come across in the few short months I have been writing. Incredible artists like Nicholas Jones and Chelsea James... and international creatives like Julian Valee and Christien Meindertsma.... these are people I may never have discovered if I didn't have this little outlet!

Wei Ying Ang and Chelsea James both mentioned in their interviews here that their crafts help them see the world in a new way... and I guess the same is true for me in some ways - having somewhere to write (and people to write for!), really does open the world up somehow...

Anyway as usual I am babbling but MY POINT IS that one of my favourite things is when people (especially people I don't even know) email me out of the blue and say 'hey, check this out... I thought you might like it!' It's like someone leaving a mysterious parcel on your doorstep - I love it!

So, a couple of weeks ago I received one of these exciting emails about Canadian artist Tyler Clark Burke. The email was full of juicy images and information... So it's only fair that I pass on this exciting discovery!

Burke seems like an incredible inspiring creative force in her home town of Toronto. in 1999 she founded Indie record label Three Gut Records (more info here), launching acts like The Constantines and Royal City to international acclaim. She's been involved in several artists collectives, curated countless eccentric group art shows, toured the US with a reading/performance art show, and has hosted numerous kooky events in Toronto, including Santa Cruz - apparently an annual event which has at times incorporated a city-wide scavenger hunt!? (Canadian readers may need to correct/and or add more detail here!). In short, Burke has become known as a driving force behind Toronto's independent cultural scene.

Burke has just created a new body of her own work, including a series of polished brass and plexiglass crows dedicated to her mother, who died suddenly a year ago. These were recently exhibited at Katherin Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects in Toronto (more shots here). Apparently these birds cast beautiful shadows or reflect like golden mirrors as you walk past them...




Beautiful but very ominous aren't they?

Tyler's work is also currently featured on the cover of Feist's album booklet The Reminder, and also on Feist's current tour poster (see below).


You can see more of Burke's work on the website of her dealer Katherine Mulherin. (Her recent works (including the crows above) are for sale through Katherin Mulherin too).

Thanks so much for the tip off Neil! (more welcome!)