Gerard Byrne's Art Finds a New Home in Southampton

This week’s Dan’s Papers cover artist and native of Ireland, Gerard Byrne, discusses the wide ranging scope of his work, how paintings take shape as he creates, worldwide influences, his recent partnership with Southampton’s Slattery Gallery, and more.

A Chat with Gerard Byrne

Tell me about this cover. Who are we looking at and what’s the story?

This is “New York Sour,” and it’s really a work that found itself. My figurative pieces explore the interpersonal relations between individuals and the world around them, contrasting feelings of connection and disconnection. The figures are simultaneously cast as solitary portraits and as characters belonging to a wider social fabric.

The work reflects this very social environment and the times we’re living in. We all know what politics are like in America right now. This is the “New York Sour” time. Yes, there is extravagance, but there is also chaos. The crab is sliding off the plate. That stability has been taken away from society. The figure with the pointing finger references a familiar gesture we’ve come to know all too well. When people meet, we gather over dinner, drinks, or coffee. These elements of socializing are central to community, yet here they exist in this unsettled state.

After my residency in the Singapore Botanic Gardens (2019), I started incorporating in my figurative works botanical elements and painting beyond the canvas border, creating a three-dimensional effect. My work is meant to be interpreted by its viewer. Everyone has a different take, which I love. It’s always interesting to hear what people take from it, how it moves them, upsets them, or lifts their spirits. When the picture is finished, that’s when I reach my own interpretation. The picture finds me, I do not find the picture.

Can you talk about your technique and how a piece like this comes together?

I never have a plan when I start. I begin with charcoal directly on the canvas, and the picture discovers itself as I go. It is like watching a story unfold that I myself never knew I was going to tell. I am using my intuition from the very first mark and adding as I go to create a certain kind of mood or atmosphere.

These works are more like a kaleidoscope, playful compositions blending expressions and extravagance. A modern interpretation of indulgence and surprise. The works are born out of my imagination, resulting in their said ‘dream-like’ effect. It’s akin to the way fortune tellers work. It’s only when the tea leaves settle, that the story is told.

You have such a diverse range of work, from landscapes and pieces like this cover, to botanicals and even more abstracted compositions. Do you have something you like doing best?

I refuse to be pinned to one genre. My work is deliberately wide-ranging. Painting for me is a compulsion rather than a choice, a restless hunger for new light, new challenges, new subject matter. I always say, “A day without painting is a day lost.” David Hockney once said, “I prefer living in color.” I’m the same way. The moment something catches my eye, I think, “I have to paint that,” no matter where in the world it takes me.

It’s all seasonal, too. In summertime when the weather is warm, I’m out traveling, working outdoors with oil and charcoal, “en plein air.” When the weather changes, I’m back in the studio with large-scale figurative works and still lifes in the works. Botanicals let me escape to the hothouses, which I joke are sometimes even warmer than my studio. The seascapes take more concentration. You have to give more of yourself. You are creating something you have no reference for. It comes from you, through you. Choosing the colors and shapes is all very experimental, controlled accidents, if you will. The technique is completely different from everything else I do — a challenge, and I always love a challenge.

You’ll be interested to know that the seascapes are drawn from my time on the sea as a lighthouse technician. There’s also a love for the sea that comes with being Irish, with being an islander. I would like to think these’ll resonate with Hamptonites who also have that connection. Island people, you know, could never be landlocked for long. The sea is our lifeblood. We’re a different breed.

You are an Irish artist, but your art has taken you around the world. How have those travels influenced your art?

My travels have influenced my work in countless ways. Every place has its own light, palette and rhythm, and those differences inevitably find their way into the paintings. The Hamptons, for example, have a cooler, clearer brightness, while the Mediterranean offers a warmer, golden atmosphere. New surroundings constantly push me towards new subjects.

But it’s the people I meet who shape the work most of all. Their stories, enthusiasm, and reactions remind me of how universal — and yet deeply personal — art can be. I’ve heard the Irish say, “God bless your hands.” The French and Italians offer passion, and Americans, especially in New York and the Hamptons, offer a wholehearted appreciation that keeps me energized. These encounters stay with me long after I’ve left a place.

I remember seeing you and your work at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair this summer. Do you have any more shows or projects in the works or on now?

Yes! How much time do you have? There’s a lot happening right now. I am currently part of a group exhibition at SPACS ART in Chelsea, NYC. A selection of my works is also featured in the current group show at Slattery Gallery in Southampton, following my recent solo exhibition Stillness in Motion: Seeing Light Anew. It’s a new exhibition space at 30 Jobs Lane in the heart of Southampton Village. The gallery currently presents Flore et Faune, a curated collection of rare Man Ray photographs taken during his time in Paris and my works are also on view alongside original works by Milton Avery, Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso and Sean Scully, among others. It is great to have that continued presence on both ends of New York.

Looking ahead, I’m building a long-term presence in the US art world and already have two solo exhibitions confirmed for 2026. Slattery Gallery in Southampton will host a solo show in August, and One Art Space in Tribeca, NYC will host another major show in September. It feels like the beginning of a much longer journey.

Tell me about the Gerard Byrne Studio.

The Studio has been the anchor to it all since 2017. I’m extending the presence by opening the Gerard Byrne Gallery – Home of Modern Irish Impressionism – over 2,000 square feet of contemporary exhibition space dedicated to exclusively showcasing my work on Trinity Street in the cultural and historic heart of Dublin in mid-December. Next time you’re in Ireland, do come visit and make it a part of your list. I’m also artist-in-residence at Slattery Gallery (slatterygallery.com). John Slattery, the gallery founder, is a native of Ireland and new resident to Southampton himself. It’s wonderful to have representation on both sides of the Atlantic.

My art can also be found online at gerardbyrneartist.com or on Instagram at @gerard_byrne_artist and @slatterygallery.