ABOUT HUGH BYRNE

“Progress through exploration and discovery continues to be important in my work. Revisiting and recycling earlier, sometimes abandoned, painterly experiments has been central to the development of the works collected in this exhibition. They are the products of a constant process of creation, destruction, appropriation and rediscovery which ultimately trouble, and even collapse, the divisions between ‘painting’ and ‘object’.

I realised how important the studio space as an influence on my work is. Left over material which had accumulated (including old frames, loosened canvas paintings and other studio by-products) presented not only a vantage point from which to start anew, but also materials that could be added to works in progress, offering solutions to formal problems and creating interesting textures and forms. In my earlier work, I relied heavily on tape to bring together different areas of interest to deliberately achieve harmony/disharmony. For In Chorus, however, the process of adding canvas to canvas demanded an act of suturing, either by means of glue or needlework. Working in such a highly tactile mode is conceptually interesting to me, since it implies that the canvas is not merely a means to an end, but a malleable object in its own right. This approach results in the frayed edges, visible sewing thread and other imperfections which emphasise the materiality of the work, with its rich assemblage of oils, acrylics, collage, glue, sand, marble dust and all manner of bric-a-brac found in the studio.”

– Hugh Byrne, 2020

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020

‘IN CHORUS’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2018

‘DESTABILISING THE OBJECT’, EBONY/CURATED, FRANSCHHOEK, SOUTH AFRICA

‘POINT AND LINE’, BARNARD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2017

‘TIPPING POINT’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘FLIPSIDE’, WARREN EDITIONS, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2016

SOLO BOOTH AT TURBINE ART FAIR, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

2015

‘TATTARRATTAT’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020

‘ALL THINGS CONSIDERED’, EBONY/CURATED, BASCULE BRIDGE HOUSE, V&A WATERFRONT, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2019

‘AKAA (ALSO KNOWN AS AFRICA)’ 2019, EBONY/CURATED, PARIS, FRANCE

INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘BARNARD COLLECTIVE’, BARNARD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2018

‘NANO 1.2-’, BARNARD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2017

‘FROM THE HORSES MOUTH’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘SUMMER EXHIBITION, BARNARD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

TURBINE ART FAIR, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

2016

‘ABSTRACTED’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘NANO-’, BARNARD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

THAT ART FAIR, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘SUMMER EXHIBITION’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2015

‘IN COLLABORATION WITH’, THAT ART FAIR, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘LANDSCAPES’, EBONY/CURATED, FRANSCHHOEK, SOUTH AFRICA

‘GROUP SHOW’, LITERARY FESTIVAL, EBONY/CURATED, FRANSCHHOEK, SOUTH AFRICA

2014

‘EMERGENCE’, EBONY/CURATED, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘GROUP SHOW’, EBONY/CURATED, FRANSCHHOEK, SOUTH AFRICA

‘GROUP SHOW’, YOUNGBLOOD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2013

‘NEW WORKS’, HAAS GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘THE EDITIONS SHOW’, SALON 91, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘ONE IN A MILLION’, SALON 91, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘GROUP SHOW’, YOUNGBLOOD GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2012

‘FIRST THURSDAY’, DIVINE ROOM NEW HERITAGE GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘CONDITIONS’, WHITE RIVER GALLERY, NELSPRUIT, SOUTH AFRICA

‘I’D RATHER BE SWIMMING’, SALON 91, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘INDUSTRIAL ABSTRACTIONS’, THE FACTORY, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘EXPRESSION SUNSET’, SALON 91, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

‘SHEDDING SKINS’, ELE GALLERY, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

2010

‘DISCOVERED CITY’, MAHE XIN, TAIPEI, TAIWAN

2006

‘ABSTRACTION IN COLOUR’, SIDE CAFÉ, PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA