School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Faculty Member, Contemporary Practices

About

My practice centers on producing systems based artworks situated at the intersection between image making and information technology. I work mostly in series producing multiple works derived from the same set of formal rules. Sometimes several pieces are combined to form larger images or objects. While I like to maintain a set of instructions to work within I build flexibility into how they are deployed and exhibited. At the root of this process is a philosophy of contingency. For me this means creating rules and systems that are amenable to making interesting compositions and sequences of images. My art works are contingent objects both open to interpretation and governed by sets of instructions.

Tom Burtonwood was born in Manchester, (UK) in 1974. He received a BA Hons. in Fine Art from Loughborough University (UK) in 1997 and an MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2001. Recent exhibitions include The Chicago Cultural Center; Sidecar Gallery, Hammond, IN; the residence of the British Consulate, Chicago; Abryant Gallery, Chicago; Hinge Gallery, Chicago; The Center for Book and Paper, Chicago, IL; NEXT Art Fair, Chicago, IL; MDW Fair, Chicago, IL; Gillock Gallery, Paris, France; NOISEfestival, Manchester, UK; The Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago; Fountain Studios, Brooklyn; Three Walls, Chicago. Burtonwood teaches at Columbia College Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is co-founder of WHAT IT IS, exhibition and project space in Oak Park, IL where he resides. http://tomburtonwood.com

I teach courses in 3d Printing / Scanning; Art Fairs + Biennales; Contemporary Practices and Web Design at SAIC. I also teach courses in Web Design at Columbia College Chicago.

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