Works on Paper

James Byrne has had a studio practice in Birmingham since 1982, when he completed an MA in painting at Birmingham College of Art.

In 1984, Byrne was one of 21 artists selected for the Ikon Gallery’s 21st birthday show, alongside William Gear, David Prentice, and John Salt.  He has since exhibited widely in the UK and Hong Kong.  His work was selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition in 2003 and for the John Moores Painting Prize Exhibition in Liverpool in 2014.

Birmingham Museums Trust, Warwick Arts Trust, and IBM have all acquired his work for their permanent collections.

Contemplating one of James Byrne’s powerful paintings, we can almost feel the storm swirling around us.  Like Turner, who exposed himself to the dangers of a storm at sea in search of authenticity, Byrne takes his sketch book out in all weathers in remote and wild locations.  He jots down impressions, not just of the landscape he sees, but also of the sensations he feels.  These impressions are then taken back to the studio to serve as raw material for paintings that take us beneath the surface of traditional landscape.  Byrne does not give us the landscape as it looks, but the landscape as it is experienced.

This is a rare opportunity to own one of James Byrne's stunning original works on paper.