‘Missing Richmond’ ARTIST CARYL BURTNER FINDS MEMORY AND MEANING IN WHAT FALLS AWAY. Caryl Burtner’s artwork is about the passage of time. “I explore ways that 1990 looks different from 2000, and 2000 looks different from 2008. I am interested in the precise moment when one thing becomes something else.” Her work often uses everyday objects to trace time’s passage—discarded toothbrushes, for example, or years’ worth of lipstick blots. Catalogued according to museum standards and exhibited as cultural relics, they take on new beauty and relevance. Burtner’s latest project,“Missing Richmond” is an assemblage that documents the transformation of Richmond buildings: Trailways Bus Station, St. Luke’s Hospital, Johnson’s Burger Bar,The Mosque, the old Scottish Rite Temple, and the Capitol Theater, Miller & Rhoads, Thalheimer’s, Woolworth’s, Murphy’s, and Philip Levy. It comprises photographs and even fragments of demolished buildings. “It’s called ‘Missing Richmond’ because the buildings are missing, and I miss them,” she says. “Old buildings enrich us by connecting us, and
reminding us where we came from.” The earliest fragment in “Missing Richmond” is a piece of stained glass window from the Scottish Rite Temple. When Burtner was a student, “The Temple” was home to VCU speech and theater classes, and her cafeteria of choice. Her favorite missing building is Woolworth’s, designed by Carneal and Johnston in 1954. “It was a fine example of the modern style, as well as the home of the photo booth I frequented in college, and my friends’ and my source for anklets and barrettes.” Burtner worries about other buildings that may become material for this project. “MCV’s West Hospital is the most controversial building currently slated for demolition—against the recommendation of the Crupi Plan. The hospital is an Art Deco gem that has been a distinctive landmark in our skyline for decades.” Some of her fragments were gifts from friends, but Burtner gets most of them the oldfashioned way. “I’m like a prospector, with my hammer,
“MISSING RICHMOND”
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DAVID STOVER | BURTNER
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Burtner is a visual artist whose installation sculptures, artist books, and assemblages investigate the form and meaning of everyday objects and experience. Her work has appeared in many galleries including Art6, Artspace, 1708, Second Street Gallery (Charlottesville), The Print Center (Philadelphia), and Washington Project for the Arts/The Corcoran Museum (Washington, D.C.). Her work has been widely reviewed in publications that include Style Weekly, Richmond Magazine, Harper’s, The New Art Examiner, The Washington Post, and Feedback.
pick, and Ziploc bags. I love [Richmond’s] architecture, the history, the community, and the ease of life. I love the twinkling Sauer’s Vanilla billboard. I love that Richmond doesn’t look like every other homogenous American town. At least not yet.” g