Thumb War

A.K. Burns is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in New York. Using video, installation, sculpture, drawing, and collaboration, Burns explores systems of value and the body as a contentious domain wherein socio-political issues are negotiated. A.K. Burns has exhibited internationally including recently at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; MMK Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, Germany; FRONT International: The Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art in Cleveland, OH; The Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA; and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, in Portland OR. Burns is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters 2021 Art Purchase Program, was a 2018 NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Interdisciplinary Art, a 2016 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University, and a 2015 Creative Capital Foundation Visual Arts Award recipient. A frequent collaborator, Burns was a co-founder of Working Artists in the Greater Economy, an advocacy organization focused on sustainable economic practices between artist and arts institutions.

A.K. Burns is currently a Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College, Department of Art & Art History and serves as faculty in the Bard MFA Program. Burns is represented by Michel Rein Gallery, Paris/Brussels.