(Un)Masked Identity: The Life and Art of Robert Burke

Currently on display at Legacy Downtown, Masked Identity: Artworks by Robert Burke is an exhibit which transports visitors into the vibrant world of eighty-year-old artist Robert Burke. Comprised of five striking paintings, the exhibit is as much a celebration of Burke’s remarkable life and art as it is a provoking meditation on identity and belonging. 

Masked Identity: Artworks by Robert Burke on display inside Legacy Art Gallery Downtown.

Born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, to mixed Denesuline (Chipewyan) and Black ancestry, Robert Burke was sent to residential school at the age of four. “It wasn’t a very pleasant environment,” he recounted in a recent interview with Legacy Art Galleries. “And as a result of that, it altered my perceptions of how life would be. It took me a long while to realize that, you know, life had its benefits.” Surviving the system for over ten years, Burke then moved to British Columbia. Here, he spent several decades working, first as a logger and then as a heavy-duty mechanic and cedar contractor. After retiring from his contracting business at the age of fifty-three, Burke decided to pursue his long-time passion for painting at the Victoria College of Art. Graduating from the institution in 2000, he has only continued to grow his craft in the years since.

Burke is, in his own words, a “social artist.” His work focuses on illustrating the myriad social issues he has experienced—from being ostracized as a half-Black kid in residential school, to being denied acceptance within contemporary Indigenous art circles. The complexities of identity and selfhood, both real and representational, are central occupations of Burke’s work. Accordingly, the paintings in Masked Identity both amalgamate and defy identifiable cultural iconography. As exhibit curator Anahita Ranjbar has noted, the symbolic masks featured in Burke’s art “transcend[] cultural boundaries and depict[] the duality of a person’s visual impression.” 

One of the most striking formal aspects of Burke’s work is his use of colour. The paintings on display in Masked Identity are brilliant arrangements saturated by bold, bright colours. Rendered in hard-edge style, the colours press against each other, interlocking shapes and figures into one another. Awarding Burke their sixth annual Tanabe Prize in 2022, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria stated that his colourful paintings “defy the sombre memories and historical realities of Canada’s history.” This sentiment is most evident in works like Journey Begins (2013), a large triptych depicting the moment Burke was taken from his hometown by RCMP constables. The fantastical colour palette of neon greens and pinks is almost enough to entirely camouflage the violence of the scene. Still, the distinct red of the towering Mountie’s uniform is unmistakable.

Robert Burke’s Journey Begins (2013) triptych.

For Burke, however, colour is more than just an apparatus for social commentary. It is a means of reclaiming selfhood—a way of expressing the voice behind the mask. During an artist’s talk at the University of Victoria earlier this year, Burke explained this facet of his work beautifully, stating: “Why the bright colours? Well, think of a person that’s been supressed, or a voice that’s been supressed, and that voice has always been told to shut up or be quiet, and all of a sudden that voice starts developing. Well, it’s going to be harsh, it’s going to be sharp, it’s going to be tight. And that’s the same with the artwork… [it’s] loud and it’s mouthy, so you kinda like it. At least I do.”

Masked Identity: Artworks by Robert Burke runs at Legacy Downtown until September 7.

Watch: Legacy's Interview with Robert Burke

Article: Arshia Negi

Images: Jade Guan and Anahita Ranjbar