| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Michael Burns was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1965. Burns describes himself as self-taught and suggests that he actively denied formal education, leaving both the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan Community College after his first terms. He completed grade ten in Ontario and left home at sixteen, working as a farmhand, as a carpenter and at many other odd jobs. He travelled extensively in North America. In 1982, he moved to Edmonton and shortly afterwards began working as an artist. His work has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Alberta and other galleries in Edmonton. His works are held in corporate collections and numerous public and private collections throughout Canada, the United States, England and Poland.
Painting represents a way for Burns to provide order in a chaotic world. His work is often influenced by architecture and experiences with poverty, immigration and growing up as a Catholic in Northern Ireland. He has taught painting technique and philosophy for the Edmonton Self Starters Organization and has been represented by galleries in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer in Alberta and Rimouski, Quebec.
Compiled 2014 |