B. 1979, U.K.
Lives and works in London
Nicholas Byrne’s paintings on copper unite abstract and figurative elements with a strong sensibility for colour and formal harmony. A key part of Byrne’s work is his interest in symbols and forms with recurring motifs and geometric shapes, which the artist overlays with areas of colour rendered in different textures.
Exploring Byrne’s practice in 2021, Tom Morton writes, “While Byrne concedes that his work has the general ‘stink’ of mid-century British Modernism, it is more concerned with the stewardship and perversion of a visual language that he has found himself working in since his schooldays than the blithe appropriation of a currently fashionable episode from the history of art. Byrne has described himself as a ‘handler’ of his works and while their cuts and scratches recall the necessary wounds of surgery, they also recall more trivial bodily incursions: the running of a comb’s teeth through tangled hair, or the pressing of a stud into a fleshy earlobe.”
“LOVE” a series of sculptures by Nicholas Byrne and Anthea Hamilton is an ever-growing collection of objects: a kimono (First LOVE Kimono, 2013), a set of animations (LOVE: Calypsos, 2009 and LOVE: LXVX, 2014) and an ongoing series of large inflatables “LOVE”, 2012-ongoing. The inflatables have previously been shown at the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; Burning Down the House: 10th Gwangju Biennale; Glasgow International, and Frieze Projects East.
Nicholas Byrne (b. 1979, UK) lives and works in London. Solo and two-person exhibitions include: Liver of Sulphur, VI, VII, Oslo; LOVE, Cold Shower, with Anthea Hamilton, Schinkel Pavilion, Berlin; Finish your sentence, and Roleplay at Vilma Gold, London; Faces, with Nora Schultz, dépendance, Brussels; Divider, Studio Voltaire, London.
Group exhibitions include: Death, Volcano Extravaganza, Fiorucci Art Trust, Stromboli; Burning Down the House, 10th Gwangju Biennale with Anthea Hamilton; Public Private Paintings, Kunstmuseum Ann Zee, Oostende; The Dark Monarch, Tate St Ives, St Ives.
Byrne’s works are in the collection of the Kistefos Museum, Norway; the Saatchi collection, Zabludowicz Collection, London and the collection of the Loewe Foundation, Madrid.
Booth view, Frieze Art Fair presentation, Regent's Park, London, UK, 2023
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Nicholas Byrne, Night Gate I, 2020-2022, Dye on Silk, 223 × 230 cm (87 ¾ × 90 ½ inches)
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Installation view, Nicholas Byrne, Frieze Art Fair, London, 2023
Installation view, Nicholas Byrne, Frieze Art Fair, London, 2023
Exhibition view, Nicholas Byrne and Athea Hamilton, LOVE IV: Cold Shower, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, 2016
Exhibition view, Nicholas Byrne and Athea Hamilton, LOVE IV: Cold Shower, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, 2016
Exhibition view, Nicholas Byrne, Finish your sentence, Vilma Gold, London, 2015
Booth view, Frieze Art Fair presentation, Regent's Park, London, UK, 2023
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Nicholas Byrne, Night Gate I, 2020-2022, Dye on Silk, 223 × 230 cm (87 ¾ × 90 ½ inches)
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Exhibition view, Liver of Sulphur (2016-2022), VI, VII, Oslo, August 26 - October 7, 2022
Installation view, Nicholas Byrne, Frieze Art Fair, London, 2023
Installation view, Nicholas Byrne, Frieze Art Fair, London, 2023
Exhibition view, Nicholas Byrne and Athea Hamilton, LOVE IV: Cold Shower, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, 2016
Exhibition view, Nicholas Byrne and Athea Hamilton, LOVE IV: Cold Shower, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, 2016
Exhibition view, Nicholas Byrne, Finish your sentence, Vilma Gold, London, 2015