Back to You

Back to You offers us an intimate and unprecedented opportunity to experience Chris Burden's artist's book practice. Comprising facsimiles of six rare publications, reissued for the first time since their original release, this new collection presents a comprehensive overview of Burden's radical early performance works and his interest in storytelling across media. "Chris Burden 71-73" (1974) and "Chris Burden 74-77" (1978), originally self-published, feature detailed descriptions by the artist alongside photographs and sketches of his 1970s performances in which he tested his mental and physical limitations, including Five Day Locker Piece in which Burden was shut in a locker for five consecutive days, and Shoot in which he was shot in the arm by a friend with a rifle. "B-Car"(1977) documents Burden's journey to conceive, build and operate a single-passenger car to travel 100 miles an hour per gallon. "Full Financial Disclosure" (1977) meticulously tracks his monthly business expenses for a year (the first artist to publicly do so). "The Master Builder" (2000) was originally editioned as a portfolio of gravure prints of Burden's drawings for his Erector Set bridge sculptures. "Coyote Series" (2005) was originally editioned as a portfolio of digital prints and etchings exploring the encounters he had with coyotes near his California home as well as reproductions of his handwritten stories. Seen together for the first time as an interrelated whole, Back to You shows Burden's radical and uncompromising spirit is alive and well, and introduces his work of fierce social consciousness to a new generation.