Biography and CV |

George Byrne’s story as an artist and musician is a hard one to condense into one short speel, mainly due to the fact that he’s done so many varied things that all intertwine - and over such a short space of time.

George’s interest in music came first. As a gifted guitarist playing in bands from the age of 13 George – at the completion of High School - then decided to put his passion for music on hold and go to University to learn a few things about Philosophy, Fine Arts and Modern Asian History. It was during his Arts degree that he fell in love with photography (and other art practices), transferring from Sydney University to Sydney College of the Arts where he finished his degree majoring in Fine Arts and photography.

After graduating from Sydney College of the Arts in 2002, George went on to forge a successful career in Fine Art Photography. He’d travel to places that interested him (India, Italy, Morocco, USA), take lots of photos and come home and stage exhibitions. Such was the response that Byrne went on to exhibit across Australia and beyond. He was also commissioned by Palace Cinema’s to take a series of images that they would use as there pre-movie slides, artful wide-screen black and white stills that – 4 years later - still play on every screen before every palace cinema screening Australia wide.

So, the twist. In 2004, with all the momentum he could have asked for, Byrne’s calling to music was rekindled. It was during a photographic trip to Spain that he decided to take his life in a new direction, and he knew he’s had to put his photography on hold if he was to do it properly. And that’s what he did. Since 2005 Byrne has become one of the most respected emerging singer-songwriters in the country releasing 2 EP’s and one full-length album as a singer-songwriter & recording and touring nationally and internationally with some of the industries biggest names

All the while though, Byrne’s eye never stopped seeing and – as he was heading OS a lot - he made sure to take his film camera’s everywhere he could.

Things Seen 1999-2009, is George Byrne’s first photographic exhibition since embarking on his career in music five years ago. The exhibition is a collection (17 framed works) of some of George’s favourite, never before exhibited photographs taken from all over the world since he first picked a camera up 10 years ago. From grainy, hand developed black and white images of New Delhi (taken while in Art School) to medium format colour images taken in New York in 2008, this show reveals the full breadth of talent behind George’s unique way of seeing and for him, felt like the perfect way to reconnect with a creative outlet that - since pursuing music - he’s sorely missed.

When asked about his feelings on the show George wrote:

“I’m really excited about the show basically because I’d been thinking about hanging some photographs for so long. It was almost serendipitous when Aaron (Kinnane) kindly told me about the available space coming up at Charles Hewitt, and that I could also jump on the back of his opening. It seemed the perfect opportunity to put together some pictures I’d been keen to work on for years but haven’t had the time or means to do so. It’s also a little nerve wracking because, having concentrated on my music for so long I don’t know if people are going to still like what I do as a photographer!”

& on the concept for the show:

“For me it’s a very different concept for an exhibition to consist of a disparate group of images from all over the place. Typically, when I was exhibiting regularly, I’d have very location specific theme and really flesh it out but, in this case, given I had such a backlog of work I thought it’d be fun (and a challenge) to mix it up and try and somehow find a cohesive aesthetic feel within a small group of images taken all over the place over ten years with 4 different camera’s! It feels a little like my greatest hits exhibition…and yet greatest hits compilations should emerge towards the end of people’s careers right?..and I feel as though I’m only (re)starting. I’ve never been very good at being conventional so I guess it all kind of fits. We’ll see have to wait and see.”

George Byrne Music BIO

George Byrne is a musician who writes lovely tunes - some quiet some loud, some slow some fast. Some people say the music could be described as ‘Pink Floyd Americana’ and others say it’s nothing of the sort. In any case it’s melodic and of high quality. His first (and only) LP ‘Foreign Water’ was released to critical acclaim in Australia, UK and most recently the US. Featuring guest appearances by Lior and Holly Throsby, and made with the help of producers Jonathan Burnside (The Sleepy Jackson) and Tim Powles (The Church), Foreign Water was an important and unique debut release that launched George’s career in style.

Described as “A stunning debut of quietly beautiful songs” (Kathy McCabe, Daily Telegraph), ‘Foreign Water’ first got the attention of UK MOJO (No 1 New Release Playlist) and then Tori Amos, who invited George to tour with her around Australia. Since then George has showcased SxSW, toured Australia & Europe (with Jason Molina and LIOR) and most recently returned to NYC & LA for a 12 show run in conjunction with his records US release.

In amongst all this George also found time to release a sneeky EP, a heart-wrenching acoustic side-project called ‘Beat In Time’ and - with some new found $ help - just spent two months in NYC working on pre-production for his 2nd studio record with some of the best bands in the world. So for gods sake, stay tuned!

CV
Born 1976, Sydney - Australia

EDUCATION
• Fort St High School 1989 - 1994
• Bachelor of Arts, Sydney University 1996 - 1998
• Bachelor of Visual Arts, Sydney College of the Arts 1998 - 2000

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
• 2001 October. “Italian Style”, Span Gallery - Melbourne CBD.
• 2001 September. “Italian Style”, global gallery - Paddington.
• 2000 October. “INDIA, New Perspectives”, global gallery - Paddington.
• 1998 August. “beyond light”, Craven CafŽ - Glebe.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
• 2001 June. “ORANGE” 14 artists exploring the theme. Global gallery - Paddington.
• 2000 September. “DEGREES” SCA Third Year Exhibition @ newspace.
• 2000 May. Six photographs in the Yellowglen Young Photographer of the Year Traveling Exhibition. Sydney (Byron Mapp) - Melbourne - Brisbane - Adelaide.
• 1999 September. SCA 2nd Year Show - “WHITE” SCA grounds.
GRANTS / AWARDS
• 2001 - $5000 traveling grant from Lavazza as principle sponsor for interstate ‘Italian Style’ exhibition. (Incl. An est. $50 000 worth of free media coverage.)
• 2000 - Artists Grant of $500 from the Govt. of India Tourist Commission
• 2000 - 2nd Place ($1000), The Yellowglen Young Photographer of the Year Award
• 1998 - 2nd Place in IMAGE Magazine Student Competition. (Ten rolls of Ilford film)
• 1999 - Runner-up winner in the Sydney Morning Herald Jeffrey Smart ‘moments’ comp.

PUBLICATIONS / BOOKS
• 2001/02 - For ‘Italian Style’, Media coverage (12 magazines + 4 major papers) & Internet reviews in The Lounge and She Said (both Sept. 2001)
• 2002 - Harpers Bazaar, image and 1/2 pg story. 2001 - Manifesto Magazine (Melbourne) - September
• 2001 - April - if MAGAZINE (Independent Film) Front Cover & Inside Spread.
• 2001 - April - Oyster Magazine. From Article “Market Cities”.
• 2000 - REMNANTS - Balmain Industry. One off publication for assessment.
• 1998 - IMAGE Magazine for winning entry in Student Image Competition.