Greg Mason Burns

Greg Mason Burns / Masonry (Page 2)
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Essen Coal #1 is an abstract photo of the Welterbe Zollverein mine in Essen, Germany.

Reception Theory as a Visual Art

A Definition of Reception Theory Reception Theory judges an audience's response to a particular communication method. In particular, it began as an analysis of how readers interpret literary texts. Interpretation is inherently built into Reception Theory. This means there is a gap, a difference of opinion, between what the communicator meant and what the audience understood. Reception Theory academics often tackle the two sides of the theory: what is communicated and what is interpreted. How I Interpret Reception Theory I work specifically with that space in between what is communicated and what is interpreted. To me, that space is fundamentally emotional. This is...

First Parish of the Abstract Artist abstract photo using blue, green, grey, and yellow

Redirecting the Message

Redirecting the Message: A Definition Redirecting the Message is an art project that revolves around misinformation and communication bias. I take images, words, and objects and re-purpose them into other forms so that a new message is created from the old one. This is a part of my Reception Theory project, which relates to communication and interpretation. Therefore, the purpose is to show how one message can easily be changed to mean something different. In other words, information is easily re-purposed to fit the communicator's agenda. As a result, the audience must decide what is real or not. What to Look For For instance, if...

UNH Museum of Art

UNH Museum of Art: On the Edge

I was happy to have been accepted into the UNH Museum of Art exhibit On the Edge, which exhibited from [caption id="attachment_5055" align="alignright" width="300"] Una Vista de Ardales - Charcoal on Paper (2017)[/caption] January through March of 2022. The image they accepted was a charcoal minimalist drawing of a small town in Andalucía, Spain. We stayed in Ardales during a climbing trip to the El Chorro climbing area just west of Malaga. I actually created several drawings and paintings of the area. Una Vista de Ardales, charcoal on paper (2017), is a drawing of the downtown area looking up the hill toward the...

Public Murals Brunswick ME

Public Art Commission: Brunswick, ME

I never expected to anything to come from joining the ArtWalk in Brunswick, ME. For one, the ArtWalk is mostly craft works. There are some fine artists, but very few abstract artists show here. Because I'm new to the area, I've been trying to drive traffic to my studio at the Fort Andross Mill. The ArtWalk is well-attended, so I figured I'd catch someone's attention there. What ended up happening was behind the scenes, and I got my first public art commission out it. First Parish Church in-progress in my studio The process was simple. The Downtown Association sent out an email...

Springboard Artist Grant by the Maine Arts Commission

[caption id="attachment_305" align="alignleft" width="213"] Springboard Artist Grant[/caption] I'm super excited to receive a Maine Arts Commission Springboard Artist Grant in 2021. I will use the funds for my residency at Watershed Studios in Galway, Ireland in November of 2021. While there, I will develop a stronger body of work in my abstract photography series, currently titled "Re-directing the Message". At the same time, I will develop a series of collage-based abstract photography works. This is a bit of a defining moment for me, as it is my first grant. I'm also grateful because I also didn't think I would be getting the...

Copelouzos Family Art Museum – 35 x 35 Project

[caption id="attachment_2900" align="alignleft" width="268"] My Contribution to the Copelouzos Family Art Museum: Art Is Not Free / I'm Walking on Both Sides - Oil on Canvas - 35 x 35 cm (2020)[/caption] UPDATED ON 12/20/21 WITH LATEST - SEE BOTTOM OF TIMELINE FOR UPDATE Scam or Not? Read On...

Untitled Surreal Abstract #1 is an abstract oil pastel on paper painting using various shapes and colors to create a landscape.

Maine Arts Journal

The Maine Arts Journal has accepted me into the Spring Issue. The title is "Sanctuary" and I wrote about how the abstract is my sanctuary. Here is the link, enjoy.​ [caption id="attachment_2844" align="alignnone" width="1100"] Maine Arts Journal: Untitled Surreal Abstract #1 by Greg Mason Burns - oil pastel on paper (2015)[/caption] ...

A Fallacy

A Conversation About the Market

[caption id="attachment_2927" align="alignleft" width="257"] A Fallacy by Greg Mason Burns - Photograph (2016)[/caption] A Conversation About the Market was recently published by The Prostitution of Art, which is a contemporary art blog based out of Boston. The site discusses the unfair treatment of artists by society / market. Articles are meant to be abstract criticisms of these forces in the contemporary world. Here is the link to the original text: The Prostitution of Art. A Conversation About the Market: I want to be creative, but society has its own rules. There are no rules for creativity, and yet here we are. Where? Here,...

Color Field Painting

[caption id="attachment_3617" align="alignleft" width="300"] Color Field #4 - Oil on Wood[/caption] What is Color Field Painting? Color Field painting, a derivative of Abstract Expressionism, is essentially the attention to color in abstraction as opposed to form or structure. The early Color Field painters, such as Mark Rothko, Clement Greenberg, and Clyfford Still created large works such that when one was standing up close one was absorbed in the color. Color Field has developed since then with various tendencies moving both further from shape and form and closer to it. What I'm Doing I'm developing color field in a way that combats the color against...

Artist Residency at The Quarry – Contemporary Arts International

[caption id="attachment_2954" align="alignleft" width="224"] Contemporary Arts International presents: Self-Portrait #2 - oil on canvas - 2013[/caption] Great news. I've been accepted to attend a two-month artist residency at The Quarry at Contemporary Arts International in Acton, MA for 2018. My tenure there will be split between one month in the spring (May-June) and another in the fall (Oct-Nov) with the exhibit being in Nov. My plan is to create ten large pieces similar to the one to the left. Except that I won't be doing silhouettes. Instead, I'll be painting colored squares or stripes as a background and putting the minimalist charcoal...

Incomplete is a minimalist, oil, abstract painting depicting the process of Scottish Independence using blue on a white canvas.

Imago Mundi – Scotland Collection

Incomplete - oil on canvas - 2017 - by Greg Mason Burns. Imago Mundi Project - Scotland Collection I noted late in 2017 that the Luciano Benetton Imago Mundi project asked me to participate in it's collection. A collection of artworks from every single nation on earth, each country has it's own collection. Some countries, such as the UK, have separate pages for the nations that exist within the UK. I am participating in the Scotland Collection. Each artist receives a canvas of the same size, and that's to make it easier to store and exhibit all the different artworks. The artist...

Fiscal Sponsorship for Artists

Why do we have fiscal sponsorship for artists? Anyone remember Piss Christ by Andres Serrano? Yeah, that one - the one where Serrano received about $20,000 in tax-payer money to create art. In my mind, nothing wrong with that - he's an artist who had a provocative photograph, and that's pretty normal in contemporary art - but there were several conservative politicians who did take exception and, as luck would have it, these politicians managed to change how the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) would distribute tax dollars to artists. [caption id="attachment_2964" align="alignright" width="145"] Immersion (Piss Christ) by Andres Serrano (Image...