Bio
Born in Bar Harbor, Maine (1975), Greg Mason Burns completed his Master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh (UK), with a focus on European Politics. He has two Bachelor degrees from the University of Maine, Orono, the first in Journalism and the second Public Administration. Before returning to the US in 2016, he resided in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Chile.
Burns began his artistic career while living in Santiago de Chile in 2010. A self-taught artist, his influences span the art historical canon, multiple academic disciplines, and three continents. He cites Kandinsky, Barnett Newman, and Diebenkorn for their visual inspiration, Earnest Hemingway for his linguistic parsimony, and the experiential dynamics of having lived on multiple continents all as factors contributing to his personal aesthetic. Each continent has helped him explore various sides of his artistic voice, from the structure of Europe to the chaos of Brazil to the safety of Maine. Because of these different influences, Burns’ work is diverse.
Burns has exhibited internationally, including locations in Brazil, Portugal, Scotland, and the United States.
About Me: a self-portrait of Greg Mason Burns (oil pastel – 2013)
Artist statement
Greg Mason Burns is a conceptual visual artist who highlights emotional unknowns, with particular attention to societal pressure, adventure, fear, frustration, stress, and chaos. He creates critical works that directly relate to the surroundings that impact him most in a particular phase or moment. He works in a variety of media including: oil, acrylic, oil pastel, charcoal, watercolor, photography, and collage. He concentrates primarily on the “interpretation gap” that is present in Reception Theory, where he attempts to identify differences in interpretation between the communicator’s message and the audience’s understanding of reality. This “gap” that exists between the communicator and the audience is what drives his artistic intellectualism as he attempts to fill it with the stress that is caused by our current socio-politico divide. His work is not politically partisan.
Curriculum Vitae
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2024
James K Bonnar Show, Morse Institute (Natick, MA)
{a}temporal, Kathryn Shultz Gallery (Cambridge, MA)
Small Works, Fort Point Arts Community (Boston, MA)
Mary Schein Salon, Kathryn Shultz Gallery (Cambridge, MA)
Annual Invitational Art Show, Kennebunk River Club (Kennebunk, ME)
Art in Giving (Boston, MA)
2023
Out and About Maine, Cove Street Arts, Portland, Maine
Mary Schein Fall Salon, Kathryn Shultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA
UMVA Juried Winter Show, Waterfall Arts, Belfast, Maine
Influences of South America, Solo Show, Bangor Public Library, Bangor, Maine
Yellow, Munka Studio Gallery, Lewiston, Maine
Out-of-Office, Cambridge Art Association at University Place, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2022
Experiments in Watercolor: Diversity in Luminosity, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Portland, Maine
Being Human, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Portland, Maine
Annual Invitational Art Show, Kennebunk River Club, Kennebunkport, Maine
2021
Midcoast Salon: Art Matters, University of Maine Hutchinson Center, Belfast, Maine
Midcoast Salon: Art Matters, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Portland, Maine
ART2021, The Harlow, Hallowell, Maine
Abstract Photography, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Virtual Exhibition, Portland, Maine (curator and artist)
2020
Sheltered in Place, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Virtual Exhibition, Portland, Maine
Artists in the Time of Coronavirus, TheArtBlog.org, Part 48, Virtual Exhibition
35 x 35 Project, Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece
Life in Times of Corona, Curated Christoph Brandl, Virtual Exhibition, Germany
Exhibition Collective #2, Frank Brockman Gallery, Brunswick, ME
Storm, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
Black and White, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
2019
Abstraction, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
Wild Things, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
Night and Day, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
Annual Invitational Art Show, Kennebunk River Club, Kennebunkport, Maine
Interiors, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
Ours is a Life of Lights and Shadows, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Portland, Maine
Mixmaster at the Matt, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
The Way Life Is – Maine Working Families and Communities, Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery, Portland, Maine
2018
Representation – Maggio Art Consultancy, London, England (Artsy.net) (adjust the link to Greg)
Protest Art – Smart Studio, Northeast Harbor, ME (group)
Representation – byDesign Gallery, Bangor, ME
Reception Theory – Contemporary Arts International, Acton, MA (solo)*
Luciano Benetton Imago Mundi Project, Scotland Collection – Various Exhibition Locations, Scotland, UK*
2017
Abstract Ideas. Art You Can Imagine – Southwest Harbor Public Library, Southwest Harbor, ME (solo)
Novo-Surrealism – Northeast Harbor Public Library, Northeast Harbor, Maine (solo)*
MDI Open – Shaw Gallery – Northeast Harbor, Maine (group)
Zaratan Arte Contemporânea (residency and open studio) – Lisboa, Portugal
2016
Oscar Niemeyer Museum (rogue) – Curitiba, Brazil*
Collector´s Choice – Studio Channel Islands – Camarillo, CA (group)
2014
Saccaro – Representation of works – Curitiba, Brazil
Galeria Artestil – Representation of works – Curitiba, Brazil
rEvolution – Museu Guido Viaro – Curitiba, Brazil*
Pieces of 2013 (an introspective of 2013) – Café Camões – Curitiba, Brazil*
2013
Ainda, Vida – Hacienda Cafe – Curitiba, Brazil*
2012
Carmen Romero Mostra de Talento – Carmen Romero Flamenco School – Curitiba, Brazil*
The first exhibition – Restaurante Casquilho – Curitiba, Brazil *
Residences
Zaratan – Lisbon – Portugal
Contemporary Arts International – Acton – Massachussets – USA
Watershed Studio – Galway – Ireland