Biography

 

James Byrne’s multi-disciplinary career spans decades of innovation in lens-based media. He earned early acclaim in the late 1970's and 1980's as a foundational figure in video art, installations, and performance.  Later in the 1990's he became a pioneer of dance video in collaboration with legendary choreographers Eiko & Koma and Trisha Brown. During a prolific period in the early 2000s, Byrne wrote and directed more than 30 narrative short films featured across the American independent film festival circuit.  In the last several years his practice evolved into collage photography and Polaroid constructions.  He is professionally engaged in the regional arts community.

                                                                

                                                                                         A Selection of Exhibitions

2026 

Celebration of Contemporary Photography, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT, "Backyard Pool",

   Jurors Paula Tognarelli and Gallery Director Zach Hoffman

Making Strange, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, "Backyard Pool"

Untitled 20, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, "Inception", Guest CuratorTamara Khasanova

Light Cut On Paper: Photography and Collage, New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, New Orleans, "When the Dog Barks"

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2025

A Memory to Enshrine, Gamut Gallery Group Show, Minneapolis, "Mississippi Roots #13", Curator Juleana Enright

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2024

Airport 2024, Atlanta Photo Group Exhibition, Atlanta International Airport, "Decision Indecision", Curator Stephanie Tung

Flying Objects, Edgewater Gallery, Fort Brag, CA;  "Pitchfork Rising" and "Shovel in the Sky", Curator Collen Gianatiempo

When Photography Meets Collage, New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery (Kolaj Festival), New Orleans, LA;  "Please Hold"

360 Degrees - Looking at Last Year,  D'art Gallery, Denver, CO; "Decision Indecision", juried group show

Juried Members Show, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA; (online), "Decision Indecision", Curator Crista Dix

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2023

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

Light, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC;  Juror Douglas Beasley, "Decision Indecision",

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2022 

PhotoMidwest 12th Biennial, Promega Gallery, Madison, WI;  "LaCrosse"

Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna CA; group show

2022 North of the 45th, DeVos Art Museum, Lafayette, MI, "Arms Across the Water"

Inside Out/Upside Down, Cultural Center of Cape Cod; "Arms Across the Water"

Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival; Official Selection, "Memory of Water", short film

Pressing Innovations, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI; "Live"

Shadow Perspective, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN; "Side Walk No. 15", Jurors Choice Award

Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts,  group show, "In the Shadow of Blue"

Migration, Gallerium, International group online exhibition, "With Heavy Hearts"

Black and White, Praxis Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN;  "Nights and Days"                                                                                                                                                   

2021

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

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

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

Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, "Consequences" and "Last Dream"

Spot On #2, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO; "Reclining"

Members Juried Art Exhibition, Bloomington Arts Center, Bloomington,MN;  "In the Shadow of Blue"

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2020

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

Zacheta-National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland; Videotapes: Early Video Art, "Both" and Transluscent"

Vine Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN; Art Inspired by Music, "Shovels in the Air"

Jimmy Wilson Gallery, Minneapolis, MN; Guest Artist

D'art Gallery, Denver, CO; Emerge, "Consequences"

Divulgarti Gallery, Genoa, Italy;Codici d'arte (Art Codes), group, "Memories of Home" 

Hopkins Center for the Arts, Juried Members Show; "Chance", Honorable Mention

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2019

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, The Body Electric, "Scale Drawing", video installation 

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts,  San Francisco, The Body Electric, "Scale Drawing", 

Rogue Buddha Gallery, Minneapolis, Mourning Glory, group, "The Five Ways"

Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival,  Official Selection, "Things to Say Before Leaving"

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2018

ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, Video Art, https://zkm.de/de,

   "Both", "Tangent",  "Transluscent"

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See more about Byrne's Early Video Art and Installations 

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                                                         A Selection of Major Exhibitions of Video Art and Installations 1975-2000

Walker Art Center, Whitney Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen, P.S. 1, Dance Theater Workshop, Film Anthology Archives,

Hirshhorn Museum, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Art Carnegie Institute, ​San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers; Kunstmuseum, Bonn;  Stedelelijk Museum, Amsterdam; A Space, Toronto; Serpentine Gallery, London; Musee d'Art, Paris; São Paulo Biennial

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                                                                                            Biography

 James Byrne is a visual artist and photographer by nature.  He grew up in a small Minnesota town, Chisago City, and followed his interest in art at the University of Minnesota where he earned a Bachelor of Elected Studies (1976).  He holds an MFA in Video Art from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1979) and was an Artist Fellow at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York, fall semester 1978.  His work in the last several decades includes video art, dance video, and narrative filmmaking.  Recently his collage photography has been featured in individual exhibitions including Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN; and Pump House Regional Arts Center, La Crosse, WI.

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 Byrne's early video art has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe.  His video and installations are in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York;  Walker Art Center, Minneapolis;  Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg; and Galleria d'Art Moderna Torino; among others.  James received visual arts fellowships from McKnight Foundation, Bush Foundation, Jerome Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board, and National Endowment for the Arts in support of his work and career.​

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