Exhibition Launch: Friday 15 Feb 5 – 8pm
Exhibition runs until 4pm 15 March, 2025
Gallery opening times - 11am - 1pm & 1.30pm - 4pm Wednesday to Saturday
John Byrne’s sculptural practice intertwines concepts of architectural form with materials and processes found in existing sites and environmental conditions. This fusion of sculpture and architectural function is exemplified by the monumental BREATHING PYRAMID currently displayed in the central gallery. As with many works in the exhibition, this piece explores scale and speculative modelling that suggest larger monumental works or ‘destination artworks’ intended for placement in the landscape. The profound connections Byrne cultivates with specific locations are also evident in the everyday materials of a site, which are moulded or completely transformed through the rigorous processes he employs. The ubiquitous ‘sod of turf’ is one such material utilised throughout the exhibition. When stacked into architectural frames or pulped and embedded into large drawings, the material takes on a mythic dimension and is regarded by Byrne as a repository of a ‘significant portion of our cultural and natural history’. The exhibition also features a dynamic series of intimate and large-scale drawings titled WITNESS I—V, which explore the notion of ‘manuscript’ or calligraphy within the elements of the sod of turf. This concept is reflected in the vermiculation of the dramatic OVERTURNED STONES piece, while the impressive circular WELL work, suspended in the window space, revisits the use of turf in its ‘healing powers and as a prayer for our salvation’.
John Byrne
Byrne studied Design and Sculpture at NCAD Dublin from 1965-68. After a period of upskilling in fibreglass and steel fabrication in London, he returned to set up a Plastics Sculpture Dept at Dún Laoghaire Art School and at the National College of Art from 1972-77. After a year at Trinity, he moved to New York, where he worked on industrial-scale fibreglass projects and artistic endeavours at the Brooklyn Model Works affiliated with Pratt College. After relocating to San Francisco in 1990, he started using the shop tools and materials from his commercial work to make large sculptures, paintings, and drawings.
In 2002, Byrne obtained US citizenship, and in 2008, he became a Peace Corps Volunteer with the Education Group in Ghana, West Africa. There, he established a Sculpture Department in a secondary school in the Volta Region and converted an old dining hall into a community studio and exhibition space.
Notable exhibitions and awards include Oireachtas and the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, held annually since 1973; Dublin Arts Festival Sculpture from 1974 to 1977; founder and chair of OASIS, the Open Air Show of Irish (later International) Sculpture in conjunction with the Arts Council, in Merrion Square in 1975 and at St. Anne's Park, Raheny, in 1977. Solo exhibitions have been presented at venues such as Mugi Studio, Manhattan, in 1986; SOHO Artists, Mercer Street, NYC in 1987; Belcher Studios Gallery, San Francisco, in 1996; Asian Art Museum in collaboration with the San Francisco Zen Centre in 2002; and New Leaf Outdoor Sculpture Gallery, Berkeley, in 1998. Awards include the IRELAND 66 Design in Silverware in 1966; the Alice Berger Hammerschlag Trust in 1974; OIREACHTEAS GOLD MEDAL in 1975; and the Scott Tallon Walker Sculpture Award in 1975.
Exhibition curated by Seán O'Reilly.
