Polaroid Reimagined | James Byrne

Polaroid Reimagined/Reconstructed

I begin with Polaroid photos taken of ordinary scenes in my neighborhood. When I add animals, insects, and human figures to the mix, this ordinary scene ignites into a richly imagined, dramatic tableau. Some are whimsical, others disquieting. Narrative is suggested, open ended, inviting.

By enlarging the originals to 37x31 (and larger) and printing on vinyl, the quiet, pocket size Polaroid is replaced by something loud and unruly. This radical scale deviation changes everything. Using a polyester weave, vinyl substrate, the works can be mounted just about anywhere, unframed, like hanging textiles. They can move and bend. They are not only images, but objects occupying space.

The series consists of more than twenty prints. Twelve are shared here as an entry point. James Byrne

James Byrne Professional Summary

James Byrne was well known as a video artist and filmmaker when he began experimenting with photography in 2020. His interest in fragmented, multiple image, deconstructed photography led him on a new path. Digital collage techniques allowed him to challenge boundaries and blend painterly and photographic concerns. His current work is a result of this journey.

The following exhibition summary highlights recent group exhibitions of Byrne’s photography (except where noted).

2026

Celebration of Contemporary Photography, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT,

Making Strange, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN

Untitled 20, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN

Light Cut On Paper: Photography and Collage, New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, LA

2025

A Memory to Enshrine, Gamut Gallery Group Show, Minneapolis, MN

2024

Airport 2024, Atlanta Photo Group Exhibition, Atlanta International Airport Gallery, GA

Flying Objects, Edgewater Gallery, Fort Brag, CA

When Photography Meets Collage, New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, LA

360 Degrees - Looking at Last Year, D’art Gallery, Denver, CO

2023

James Byrne: Unforeseen Anomalies, individual exhibition, Pump House Regional Arts Center, La Crosse, WI

Light, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC

2022

PhotoMidwest 12th Biennial, Promega Gallery, Madison, WI

North of the 45th, DeVos Art Museum, Lafayette, MI

Inside Out/Upside Down, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Cape Cod, MA

Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival; Official Selection, short film

Pressing Innovations, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI

Shadow Perspective, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN

2021

James Byrne: New Works, individual exhibition, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins

Global Groove, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; short video

Alternative Facts: Photography by Any Means, PACE Center Gallery, Denver, CO;

Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN

Spot On #2, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO

2020

The Body Electric, Museum of Art and Design, Miami, FL; video installation

Videotapes: Early Video Art, Zacheta-National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, short video

Art Inspired by Music, Vine Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN

Emerge, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO

Juried Members Show; Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN

2019

The Body Electric, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, video installation

The Body Electric, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, video installation

Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Official Selection, short film

Byrne was an Artist Fellow at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York, fall 1978.

He graduated with an MFA in Video Art from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979.