{"id":745060,"date":"2026-06-18T13:44:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745060\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:44:45","slug":"artist-scott-burton-honoured-in-new-sculpture-at-new-yorks-aids-memorial-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745060\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Scott Burton honoured in new sculpture at New York\u2019s Aids memorial – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the New York City Aids Memorial<\/a> celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, the nonprofit established to honour those lost to the Aids epidemic is unveiling its latest public commission: Eternal Flame for Scott Burton (2026) by the American sculptor Oscar Tuazon<\/a>. Installed at the memorial\u2019s site in St Vincent\u2019s Triangle in Manhattan\u2019s West Village, the commission being unveiled on 20 June revisits the final public work of Scott Burton<\/a>, the influential artist who died of Aids-related illness in 1989.<\/p>\n

Tuazon, whose practice melds elements of architecture, social engagement and conceptual sculpture, first became interested in Burton\u2019s work as an art student in New York in the 1990s. \u201cThe dual nature of his sculptures\u2013\u2013at once publicly visible and deeply private\u2013\u2013seemed like a secret hidden in plain sight,\u201d Tuazon says. His commission for the Aids Memorial reimagines Burton\u2019s landmark installation for the Sheepshead Bay fishing piers in Brooklyn, a work originally commissioned in 1987 and completed posthumously in 1994.<\/p>\n

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Scott Burton, Commission for Sheepshead Bay Fishing Piers, 1994 Photograph by Christopher Wesnofske. Collection of the Public Design Commission of the City of New York<\/p>\n

The work became emblematic of Burton\u2019s approach to public art, dissolving boundaries between sculpture, design and civic infrastructure. Comprising benches, lighting elements and other functional forms, Burton\u2019s work encouraged public interaction while offering social and political commentary. Unfortunately, years of exposure to the environment, compounded by damage sustained during Superstorm Sandy, led to its decommissioning in 2022. Key components were subsequently preserved by Nicholas Olney and Eric Gleason of the gallery Olney Gleason. Tuazon used some of these salvaged elements for his new sculpture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI followed Burton’s intention as closely as possible,\u201d Tuazon says. \u201cRed Atlantic granite is a material that Burton often used. Terrazzo was an atypical choice for an outdoor sculpture at Sheepshead Bay\u2014perhaps the only time he used this material\u2014and the ottoman-style benches that form the core of the work were badly damaged by exposure to a marine environment for three decades. I tried to lovingly restore his work using original fragments and transform the damaged terrazzo into a new aggregate material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuazon\u2019s sculpture takes the form of a functional circular bench with a pole that shines a beam of light.<\/p>\n

\u201cEternal Flame for Scott Burton isn\u2019t just a backward-looking monument,\u201d says Dave Harper, the executive director of the Aids Memorial. \u201cIt is an act of direct preservation and sensitive reimagining that suggests a perpetual renewal of Burton\u2019s work and the generation he represents. Ultimately, I want visitors to see that history is not fixed and must not be forgotten. Through thoughtful stewardship, the ideas and creative spirits of those we lost to the Aids crisis continue to live, breathe and evolve right here in the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Scott Burton, Commission for Sheepshead Bay Fishing Piers, 1994 Photograph by Christopher Wesnofske. Collection of the Public Design Commission of the City of New York<\/p>\n

Tuazon\u2019s design reflects the Aids Memorial\u2019s ongoing commitment to preserving the history of the Aids crisis while ensuring that its cultural and human legacies remain active within public life. The unveiling will include drag performances, live music and floral installations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want visitors to understand that commemoration is an active, living verb,\u201d Harper says. \u201cI hope visitors leave understanding that the New York City Aids Memorial, as we celebrate our tenth anniversary this year, is not just a place of mourning, but a vibrant, enduring platform for creative energy, social connection and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eternal Flame for Scott Burton suggests that memory is sustained through transformation. It stands as a testament to an artist lost during the Aids crisis and to the enduring capacity of public art to connect generations across time.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity is the strongest protection we have,\u201d Tuazon says. \u201cI wanted to put the pink triangle at the centre of this work, as a memorial to Burton and all the other artists lost to Aids, and to make this a tactile, loving, communal space where friends and strangers meet. I insist on the intimate nature of this, as something that you experience through touch. The HIV\/Aids crisis was a failure of institutions (something we are seeing again right now), and the antidote is\u2013\u2013and has always been\u2013\u2013pride, visibility and community. In the words of Act Up, \u2018Silence=Death\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the New York City Aids Memorial celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, the nonprofit established to honour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75,22059,167,266983,21479],"class_list":["post-745060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-hiv-aids","tag-new-york-city","tag-oscar-tuazon","tag-public-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}