Public lecture by Gerard Byrne
Thursday, March 8, 2018 – 6 – 8 pm
Exhibition Laboratory, Merimiehenkatu 36, Helsinki
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.
In the public talk, Gerard Byrne will discuss his practice working with video and photography. Using reference to specific projects, he will discuss central concerns in his work related to Media, Art, Temporalities, and Audiences.
Warm welcome!
Gerard Byrne
The work of Gerard Byrne (b.1969) has been shown at international exhibitions including Skulptur Projekte Muenster (2017), Documenta 13 (2012), the Venice Biennale (2011), the Sydney Biennale (2008), Gwangju Biennale (2008), and the 8th Istanbul Biennial (2003) as well as in major museums in Europe and the US. Museum solo exhibitions include Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2017), ACCA, Melbourne (2016), Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (2015), FRAC Pays de la Loire (2014), Whitechapel Gallery (2013), IMMA (2011), Renaissance Society, Chicago (2011), and ICA, Boston (2008). In 2007 he represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale. In 2006 he was a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn award. His major works feature in the collections of San Francisco MOMA, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Tate Britain, London, Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo, Hirschhorn Museum, Washington, MUDUM, Luxembourg, Museion, Bolzano, GAM, Torino, IMMA, Dublin, Lenbachhaus, Munich, Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, Kunsthalle Bern Foundation (CH), Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (CH) and the FRAC collections of Nord Pas-de-Calais and Pays de la Loire amongst others.
He is represented by the Lisson Gallery in London, Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, and Nordenhake Gallery, Stockholm. He was Professor of Time Based Media at the Royal Danish Academy for Fine Art from 2007 – 2016.