Gerard Byrne
Visually rich and intellectually complex, the work of Gerard Byrne in photography, film, theatre and multi-screen installation examines the slippage between time and the act of image creation. Characterised by a laconic humour, Byrne’s projects examine the ambiguities of language and of what is gained or lost in the translation from text to image. By reconstructing historically charged conversations, interviews and performances, from sources as diverse as La Revolution Surréaliste, Playboy and National Geographic, Byrne tests our perception of the past and the present, and the inherent challenges of the visual record. Ongoing photographic series, such as In the News and Loch Ness, demonstrate that while images are fixed in time they are also interpreted in flux – a situation that both creates and distorts our knowledge of what came before. Byrne is precise in his research and analysis of the relationship between time, documentation and an identifiable visual language, and while each of his distinct bodies of work is conceived independently, they resonate together as being made in relation to a specific, but malleable historical referent.
Gerard Byrne was born in 1969 in Dublin, Ireland, where he lives and works. Solo exhibitions include Secession, Vienna, Austria (2019); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2018); Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (2017); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia (2016); Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, UK (2016); Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland (2015); FRAC Pays de la Loire, Nantes, France (2014); The Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2013); Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal (2012); IMMA, Dublin, Ireland (2011); Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK (2011); The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL, USA (2011); Lismore Castle Arts, Ireland (2010); The Common Guild, Glasgow, UK (2010); ICA Boston, Boston, MA, USA (2008); Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark (2008); Dusseldorf Kunstverein, Dusseldorf, Germany (2007); Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (2007); MUMOK, Vienna, Austria (2006); BAK, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2004); Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany (2003). In 2007 he represented Ireland at the 52nd Venice Biennale. He has also participated in dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany 2012; Performa, New York City, NY, USA (2011); the 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2011); Auckland Biennial, New Zealand (2010); Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2008); Sydney Biennial, Australia (2008); Lyon Biennial, France (2007); Tate Triennial, London, UK (2006); and the Istanbul Biennale, Turkey (2003).
Gerard Byrne
Beasts
2018
Analogue silver gelatin prints
Dimensions variable
Installation view of 'Gerard Byrne, Upon all the living and the dead', Secession, Vienna, Austria, 2019. © Gerard Byrne. Courtesy Secession, Vienna. Photography Iris Ranzinger.
Gerard Byrne
Common Crane
2018
Analogue silver gelatin print
Framed: 99 x 123 cm / 38 7/8 x 48 3/8 in
Gerard Byrne
Red Squirrel
2018
Analogue silver gelatin print
Framed: 56 x 46 cm / 22 x 18 in
Gerard Byrne
In Our Time
2017
Single channel film installation (Rear projection, mise-en-scene elements including vintage JBL 4425 Studio Monitors, etc) with 8 channel audio
Gerard Byrne
In Our Time
2017
Single channel film installation (Rear projection, mise-en-scene elements including vintage JBL 4425 Studio Monitors, etc) with 8 channel audio
Gerard Byrne
In Our Time
2017
Single channel film installation (Rear projection, mise-en-scene elements including vintage JBL 4425 Studio Monitors, etc) with 8 channel audio
Gerard Byrne
In Our Time
2017
Single channel film installation (Rear projection, mise-en-scene elements including vintage JBL 4425 Studio Monitors, etc) with 8 channel audio
Gerard Byrne
Jielemeguvvie guvvie sjisjnjeli (Film inside an image)
2015-2016
Single channel film, back projection
17 minutes, continuous loop.
Installation view at 'Life Inside an Image', Monash University Museum of Art, Victoria, Australia, 2016. Courtesy Monash University Museum of Art.
Gerard Byrne
Jielemeguvvie guvvie sjisjnjeli (Film inside an image)
2015-2016
Single channel film, back projection
17 minutes, continuous loop.
Installation view at 'Life Inside an Image', Monash University Museum of Art, Victoria, Australia, 2016. Courtesy Monash University Museum of Art.
Gerard Byrne
Jielemeguvvie guvvie sjisjnjeli (Film inside an image)
2015-2016
Single channel film, back projection
17 minutes, continuous loop.
Installation view at 'Life Inside an Image', Monash University Museum of Art, Victoria, Australia, 2016. Courtesy Monash University Museum of Art.
Gerard Byrne
A man and a woman make love
2012
Television production, Variable loop of approximately 19 minutes
Gerard Byrne
A man and a woman make love
2012
Television production, Variable loop of approximately 19 minutes
Gerard Byrne
ITN10904 (*see description)
2012
Silver Gelatin print
Framed: 134 x 167 x 6 cm / 52 3/4 x 65 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.
Gerard Byrne
A thing is a hole in a thing it is not
2010
Five HD video projections, duration: 2 mins to 30 mins
Gerard Byrne
A thing is a hole in a thing it is not
2010
Five HD video projections, duration: 2 mins to 30 mins
Gerard Byrne
A thing is a hole in a thing it is not
2010
Five HD video projections, duration: 2 mins to 30 mins
Gerard Byrne
He searches for the contrary of saved
2014
Single channel black and white HD video with sound
Indefinite loop
Gerard Byrne
Route à la Campagne, avec Arbre. Soir. Au sud du vignoble des Bonnelly, en direction du Nord Est, à travers un champ de vignes entre Les Petite Verrière et St Sers
2008
Analog C-type colour photograph
Unframed: 88 x 110 cm / 34 5/8 x 43 5/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
A country road. A tree. Evening. The turn in the road at Pine Valley, on the way up to Glencullen.
2008
Analog C-type colour photograph
Unframed: 88 x 110 cm / 34 5/8 x 43 5/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
Subject
2008
Three channel work for monitors, and a vinyl wall text
Duration: approx. 50 mins
Gerard Byrne
Subject
2008
Three channel work for monitors, and a vinyl wall text
Duration: approx. 50 mins
Gerard Byrne
A Young Woman Contemplating a Skull
2008
Selenium toned Silver Gelatin photographic print
89 x 78.5 cm / 35 1/16 x 30 5/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
Earth after the Fall of Man
2008
Selenium toned Silver Gelatin photographic print
89 x 78.5 cm / 34 1/4 x 30 15/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
Images or shadows of divine things
2005
Selenium-toned silver gelatin prints
Unframed: 24 x 30 cm / 9 7/16 x 11 13/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
Images or shadows of divine things
2005-ongoing
Selenium-toned silver gelatin prints
Unframed: 24 x 30 cm / 9 7/16 x 11 13/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
Images or shadows of divine things
2005
Selenium-toned silver gelatin prints
Unframed: 24 x 30 cm / 9 7/16 x 11 13/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
Images or shadows of divine things
2005
Selenium-toned silver gelatin prints
Unframed: 24 x 30 cm / 9 7/16 x 11 13/16 in.
Gerard Byrne
New Sexual Lifestyles
2003
Three-channel video shown on monitors, nonlinear duration: approx. 54 minutes ;seven photographs, Dimensions variable
Gerard Byrne
New Sexual Lifestyles
2003
Three-channel video shown on monitors, nonlinear duration: approx. 54 minutes ;seven photographs, Dimensions variable
Gerard Byrne
New Sexual Lifestyles
2003
Three-channel video shown on monitors, nonlinear duration: approx. 54 minutes ;seven photographs, Dimensions variable
Gerard Byrne
New Sexual Lifestyles
2003
Three-channel video shown on monitors, nonlinear duration: approx. 54 minutes ;seven photographs, Dimensions variable
Gerard Byrne
Gerard Byrne, Case Study: loch Ness (Some Possibilities and Problems) 2001 - 2011
2001-2011
Installation view: MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 14 January - 3 April 2011
Gerard Byrne
Gerard Byrne, Case Study: loch Ness (Some Possibilities and Problems) 2001 - 2011
2001-2011
Installation view: MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 14 January - 3 April 2011
Gerard Byrne
Gerard Byrne, Case Study: loch Ness (Some Possibilities and Problems) 2001 - 2011
2001-2011
Installation view: MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 14 January - 3 April 2011
Gerard Byrne
Contact in sixteen possible permutations
2001-ongoing
16 silver gelatin prints
Framed: 20.3 x 25.4 cm / 8 x 10 in.
