Sly and smart, artist trends toward underground

While some 18-year-olds in 1968 went to Vietnam, Bruce Burr went to Paris instead and worked with Yves Saint Laurent.

It was the kind of panache that has driven Burr his whole life. The Laguna Beach artist, who has exhibited at the Festival of Arts for the past eight years, eschews tradition and likes to poke a sharp stick at anything that deserves it.

In describing his work, he says “it’s elegant and it’s rude, and it has a sense of detachment from the whole thing while being completely committed. And that is what I do.

“It’s never going to be the violently red rose capturing your attention and seizing it. It will be something different.”

Officially, Burr came to painting later in life. Unofficially, he was drawing, creating and imagining a rich fantasy life as a boy, growing up in Wyoming, which he calls “America’s greatest Zen experience.”

“And not in one of the pretty parts of the state, not boutique Wyoming, but the other part where it’s nothing but wind and cold and snow,” he said. “You evolve an interesting mindset when you’re there. And I’ve explored that aspect, including incorporating the blankness of Wyoming, which is a huge influence on me.”

Some of his work resembles the vastness and ennui of David Hockney’s Los Angeles. Burr admits the Hockney similarities, and he could be describing both artists when he says it’s “indifference, beauty, absolutely freezing cold people, narcissism and a ravishing sense of sex and death all blended together — sort of like a 1920s movie.”

An English major in college, Burr is grounded in metaphor and drama. Polished flair is a state of mind for him best served frequently and on point. Which is to say he was never cut out for Vietnam.

“I discovered Vogue magazine when I was 15 and was absolutely insane about it — read every page, every article.”

It was there that he saw the ads for designer Laurent, so during high school, he created a portfolio of sketches and design work. And when he was ready after graduation, he knew what he wanted.

“I went to the French consul general in Denver, and I said, ‘I want Yves Saint Laurent’s work address so I can send a bunch of sketches.’ And he said, ‘Why don’t we send it to his house?’ And I said, ‘Can you do that?’ And he said, ‘Well, of course, that way you know he’ll get it.’”

So with the help of the consul general, Burr mailed Laurent about 150 of his sketches, along with a note saying that he wanted to work for him.

Within about a month, Laurent wrote back and invited Burr to a personal interview. Burr got the job, moved to Paris and was Laurent’s assistant for five years.

“It was fun — maliciously good fun,” Burr said. “It was an eye-opening experience, quite fascinating.”

When Burr’s Vietnam number was finally called, he had to return to the States, where he promptly failed his military physical but could not return to Paris. So he started another phase of his life, continuing to refine his fashion experience and eventually shifting to painting.

“I thought why not just do something that is a little more important than a bunch of fabric rotting in somebody’s closet,” he said.

He moved to Laguna Beach in 1987 and started pulling together all the aspects of his past experiences, pointing to his recent Vogue series as an example.

“It’s the narrative aspects, the fashion aspects, the dark aspects of our culture and the privileged aspects of our culture.”

An admirer of late 15th century art, Burr is not afraid of challenging his audience, hoping they appreciate the layers and literary details of his work.

“Few people get it, but the ones who do enjoy it,” he said. “They like the fact that they are seemingly on the surface happy, and yet underneath it is all fairly dark. Most art has a very dark component.”

Burr is one of a growing number of underground artists in Laguna. While he has a presence at the Festival of Arts, he is somewhat hard to find. He shares studio space with Shelley Rapp Evans in the Artist Open Studios in Laguna Canyon.

He’d rather not exhibit in Laguna because it’s not his audience. He’s more L.A., less O.C. He’s more Paris, less Pasadena.

“Laguna Beach, in spite of its liberal bastion in Orange County, is still conservative. And art that is conservative is flowers and pretty things and nice things because nobody wants to look at anything deeper than that. Laguna Beach in terms of the real art scene has almost gone underground.”

Years ago, there used to be an underground art walk in Laguna. You had to know somebody. It was like the old raves where you got the secret map.

You would find these one-night-only exhibits in small spaces or homes. You were a welcomed guest at an intimate gathering where informed people exchanged ideas about art.

Burr’s work is like that. You want to talk about it because it has meaning.

Plus it feels a little subversive at the same time, which makes Burr smile.

Burr’s website is at bruceburrartist.com.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.