Hugh Byrne South Africa, b. 1983

Hugh Byrne is a non-gurative visual artist, utilising colour, structure, and composition to achieve an overall sense of experimentation. Byrne relies on gut intuition and curiosity to establish a balance between spontaneity and discipline. Drawing on his studio space, tools, materials, as well as previous artworks as a direct stimulus for the development of new work, his compositions are a response to his environment.

Seams, staples, or stretcher bars are left visible in Byrne’s work to allow insight into the process and shine a light on structural elements that are usually hidden. The artist wants the construction process to be both obvious and questioning; creating an opportunity for the viewer to be invited in, but not all the way. When making his work, he is conscious of the viewer's relationship and interaction with it.

Making use of what’s at hand means that general studio detritus often gets integrated, resulting in work that sways between painting, assemblages, and sculpture. At times more attention is given to the frame than what it’s framing; exploring the idea of what constitutes a painting. The artworks become objects, hard-won through the process of making.

'Colour and structure are divisible as ideas but in Byrne’s paintings they are also joyously enmeshed: colour is structure. This is true throughout his inventive body of work. In his earlier works, Byrne often painted with a mapmaker’s sense of boundaries. So he stacked his colours like blocks or overlapped them as if making a collage, but he never caused them to mingle. The boundary prevailed. To a degree, this method and understanding persists in his new work. Over time, though, Byrne has allowed himself to paint in a looser and messier style.’ - Sean O’Toole

Byrne completed his degree in Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria, graduating with honours, and is currently based in his home city of Cape Town, South Africa.