ANTHONY BURDIN, performance
A self-described “recording artist” who typically goes on tour without getting out of his car (a 1973 Chevy Nova he’s lived in for years), Californian Anthony Burdin stole the show at the 2004 Frieze art fair with an unscheduled performance at dealer Michele Maccarone’s booth. In his videos, taken mostly from a car as he drives at high speed, Burdin sings along to Blue Öyster Cult and other classic rockers; live, he accompanies his artwork with drums, guitar, and vocals that have been described as “the wheezing of an asthmatic derelict.” Pop music may not be his calling—he programmed a radio station in the nineties, though he never did a broadcast—but with back-to-back shows at the Whitney and the Berlin Biennial, this voodoo child (who won’t reveal his age or sit for portraits) seems poised to make it as an art star. White Columns director Matthew Higgs calls Burdin “one of the most interesting maverick artists working anywhere in the world—his work is so dark and gothic, yet it’s made under the clear blue skies of California.”

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• Archive: “Features”
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• Table of Contents: Feb 27, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!