Chandler Burr
Chandler Burr (born December 30, 1963) is an American journalist, author, and museum curator. Since December 2010 he has been curator of olfactory art at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City.[1]
Burr was born in Chicago and raised in Washington, D.C. and graduated from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.[1] Burr began his journalism career in 1987 as a stringer in The Christian Science Monitor's Southeast Asia bureau,[2] and later became a Contributing Editor to U.S. News and World Report. Burr has also written for The Atlantic on epidemiology and public health. Burr earned a masters degree in international economics and Japan studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins.[2] He lives in New York City.
The Bogota newspaper El Tiempo in its edition of 2 December 2011 carried an article on how Burr reportedly had failed to disclose his sexual orientation in petitioning to adopt two Colombian orphans. As a result the ICBF (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar ) halted the adoption proceedings, claiming a lack of candor on Burr's part; Burr responded that the children knew about his sexuality and "they didn't care".[2] On 13 December 2011, however, it was reported that the adoptions were made official and that Burr and his sons were reunited.[3][4]
In 1993, Burr wrote a cover story, "Homosexuality and Biology", for The Atlantic.[3] It became the basis for his first book A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation (1996), which investigated sexual orientation research. Burr compared the clinical profiles of sexual orientation and handedness, writing that the best analogy for homosexuality is left-handedness.[4] A Separate Creation was published by Hyperion, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, and its argument that sexual orientation is inborn prompted a call by Southern Baptists to boycott Disney films and theme parks.[5]
In 1996 The Weekly Standard published Burr's article "Why Conservatives Should Embrace the Gay Gene". It argued that scientific research that in Burr's view demonstrated that sexual orientation is biologically determined supports a conservative view of human nature.[6]
Burr's The Emperor of Scent, published in 2003, tells how the French-Italian scientist Luca Turin originated the theory about the functioning of the sense of smell. As a result, The New Yorker proposed that Burr describe the creation of a perfume. Burr's March 2005 New Yorker article recounted Jean-Claude Ellena's year-long creation, in Paris and Grasse, of Hermès' Un Jardin sur le Nil. [7]
Burr's The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York, published in 2008, describes Ellena's creation of "Nil" in Paris, and Sarah Jessica Parker's creation of "Lovely", in New York City under the license aegis of the perfume corporation Coty.[8]Burr’s novel, You Or Someone Like You, was published by Ecco in summer 2009.[9]
From August 2006 until the end of 2010, Burr was perfume critic of The New York Times.[2] His column, "Scent Notes", appeared first in T, The New York Times' style magazine, and later on the Times’ blog.[10] Stefano Tonchi, style editor of The New York Times Sunday Magazine and T, was quoted: “The Times will be the first to cover the fragrance industry and perfume in the way it does movies, books, and theater."
Since December 2010 Burr has been curator of the olfactory art at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City.[11]
In December 2010, Burr left The Times to become Curator of the Center – later changed to Department – of Olfactory Art at the Museum of Arts and Design. The Museum stated that Burr, who joined the Museum's staff, would create “exhibitions and programs that illuminate scent as an art form.[12] The first exhibition planned, The Art of Scent, 1889-2011, will allow visitors to experience ten seminal works by some of the greatest scent artists of the late-19th, 20th and early-21st centuries…[such as] Jean-Claude Ellena, Ernest Beaux, and Jacques Cavallier….”[13]
His first novel, You Or Someone Like You, was published by Ecco Press in summer 2009.
Burr conducts a series of perfume dinners around the world.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ 77 North Washington Street, The Atlantic Online, June 1997
- ^ a b c Official Biography, ChandlerBurr.com
- ^ Chandler Burr
- ^ Chandler Burr
- ^ Chandler Burr
- ^ Chandler Burr
- ^ http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/03/14/050314fa_fact
- ^ NPR npr.org
- ^ http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/11120-a-hollywood-novel-that-isn-t-pw-profiles-chandler-burr-.html
- ^ http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/scent-notes/
- ^ http://www.basenotes.net/content/626-New-York-s-Museum-of-Art-and-Design-to-open-dedicated-fragrance-department-curated-by-Chandler-Burr?s=3185ed804b468be3cd7a1aa8169b30d3
- ^ http://madmuseum.org/press/releases/museum-arts-and-design-present-first-museum-exhibition-perfume-art-form-november-2011
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/perfume-as-an-art-form-at-museum-of-art-and-design.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Chandler%20Burr%20Carol%20Kino&st=cse
- ^ http://vimeo.com/9897631
[edit] External links
- Burr article in The New Yorker (the making of the new Hermès scent)
- Chandler Burr Profile Page at Bold Type Magazine Interview, author reading, and excerpt from "The Emperor of Scent"; plus Burr's Top Ten List of Perfumes.
- Narrative Magazine (fiction excerpt)
- An interview with Qu3stions
- Official website
