Scott Burton
American, 1939–1989
BiographyScott Burton was born in Greensboro, Alabama, in 1939. He received a B.A. degree from Columbia University in 1962, and an M.A. from New York University in 1963. He began to use furniture in his art in the early 1970s, creating what he called "behavior tableaux," with silent, interacting performers and found objects of furniture. The first furniture piece he made was the Bronze Chair of 1972/1975. Burton constructed his subsequent furniture pieces from a wide range of natural and fabricated materials, and designed them in forms that invoke, exaggerate, and animate various historical and vernacular styles. His work was frequently featured in solo and group exhibitions and performances, including a performance at the 1973 Festival of Contemporary Arts at Oberlin College. Burton died of HIV-related illness in New York in 1989.