Opening + Talk: Tom Burr

Roses continues Tom Burr’s long engagement with parkscapes, garden constructions, and reconfigured architecture. The work takes the form of two inverted, misaligned right angles made of chain-link fencing. Rose-tinted safety and surveillance mirrors, along with chairs, are attached to the fencing.  Park-inspired signage connects historical figures and public regulations. For Burr, the rose functions as both a material metaphor and a historical reference. He draws from the life of Rose Williams, the sister of playwright Tennessee Williams, whose institutionalization affected Williams greatly. Burr places Rose within a lineage of queer figures who stand in for voice, presence, and resistance.

Roses is located in the field behind 3733 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108.