neo:artist - Janette Byrne

Janette Byrne

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EXHIBITIONS
2018 Open AIR Gallery: Contemporary Art Altrincham
2018 Bill Naughton Exhibition, Bolton
2018 Interface Exhibition, Neo
2018 Shortlisted for Threadneedle prize, Mall Galleries, London
2017 Mirabel Open exbn. 2017
Shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exbn. 2017
Neo Open Exbn. Feb-march 2017
BL6 Gallery Portrait Exbn. Feb 2017
OCTOBER 2016 Curating for a CURE Charity Auction
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 Warrington Open exbn. Warrington Museum
June 2016 'Spectrum' Exibition at Mirabel Gallery, Manchester
June 2016 Exbn: 'The GRIP of the PHOTOGRAPH', Uni of Bolton, MA exbn.
MA (Fine Art) at Bolton University.
EXHIBITIONS continued:
2016 - Shortlisted 2 Collages 'Siblings' for the ROYAL ACADEMY 2016 Summer exhibition (2 paintings): subsequently featured as a qualifier in the BBC2 programme 'The Royal Academy 2016'.
2015
PS Mirabel Exhibition (Manchester)
Shortlisted for Royal Academy 2015 Summer exhibition
'Hung, Drawn and Curated' Castlefield Gallery Manchester May
20:20 touring Print exbn.
2014
LONDON ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER EXBN. 2014. Exhibited and Sold.
London, Royal Academy Summer Exbn.-2 shortlisted pieces
Derbyshire Art Festival
June Lverpool Art Fair
March-April Neo Gallery 22 "Arbitrary Ground" exbn.
Dec-Jan Neo Gallery 22 "Presents " exbn.
Dec-Feb Bolton Museum Open exbn.
Dec-Jan 20:20 Hot Bed Press print Touring exbn.
2013
Dec-Jan 20:20 Hot Bed Press print Touring exbn.
Feb-Apr Neo Gallery 22 "The Eye and the Mind" exbn.
June-July Neo Gallery 22 "Art Prize" exbn.
Oct-Dec Neo Gallery 22 "Graduates 2013" exbn.
Dec-Jan Neo Gallery 22 " Presents" exbn.
Dec-Feb Bolton Museum Open exbn.
Manchester Synthesis exbn.
Neo Gallery 22 " Print Prize" exbn.
Liverpool Eggspace Gallery
Python Arts festival St. George's Gallery
Python St. George's Gallery: Beneath the Surface" exbn.
Neo Gallery 22 " Graduate Prize" shortlisted
2012
Bolton Museum Biennial exbn.
Cheshire Open exbn.
Neo Gallery 22 " Neo Art Print prize" shortlisted
Neo Gallery 22 " State of the Art" Exb.
Neo Gallery 22 "Future Perfect" Exbn.
The Gallery at St. George's House exbn.
The Gallery at St. George's House exbn.
Bolton University Degree Show (Fine Art)
2011
Manchester Victoria Baths 2nd year Art Show
Bolton Museum Open
Neo Gallery X1 "Retrospective Mix" exbn.
2010
Neo Gallery Unit V 'Ravenous'
Octagon Theatre Bolton A Street Car Named Desire" Foyer Exbn.
Neo Gallery Unit V "Light/Light" exbn.
Neo Gallery Unit V 'Summer Exbn.'
Neo Gallery Unit V 'Nostalgia' Exbn.
Neo Gallery Unit V 'Soupçon 2'
Neo Gallery Unit V 'Adventures in E minor" exbn.
2009
Neo Gallery Unit V 'Soupçon'
Neo Gallery 'Future Historical Influences' exbn.
2008
Preston Open Art
PERSONAL DETAILS:
Nee: Janette Hayton, Blackpool, England 14/06/1947
11 plus scholarship to Convent Grammar School, Bolton 1958-1965
London Uni 1965-68 B.Sc. Hons. Zoology
Married 1968, 3 children
Teaching in Schools, Colleges and HM Prisons until retirement in 2006
Attended local Art Workshops and College Courses in Painting and Ceramics 2006-2008
Enrolled in 2008 on BA Fine Arts Degree Course, part time at University of Bolton
2009 became a member and studio holder at Neoartists, Bolton
June 2012 graduated First Class Hons. Fine Art
Graduated 2016 MA Fine Art
CONCEPTS:
My work explores human interaction and isolation within the domestic environment. The concepts are highly personal and explore memory to reveal hidden meanings.
Metaphors go beyond these themes to examine a broader interest in the human condition. Thus meaning is elusive and hopefully triggers a response from the viewer.
I employ a range of techniques culled from the history of painting and integrate these under the influence of contemporary artists: LUC TUYMANS was very helpful when I was writing my Dissertation "Visual Space of the Imagination".
---more:
Having not yet come to terms with an austere childhood I have yet been unable to make 'closure'. My art has become a reflective diary, a documentation of childhood. I photographed many Dolls at the Museum of Bolton Archives and they live on in my memory: as such they are reinterpreted and enveloped in the sadness I felt at that age. Each expression and state of dress does not always convey their innocence. ...for they always were innocent ! Haunting backgrounds, poses and expressions confront the viewer.... the doll gaze...sometimes evil, sometimes fearful........... The source material I draw from is a combination of first hand research, photography and experience.
I aim to have develop tension between representational and abstract notions of recall. Thus a flat surface can be used to create the illusion of space, form and atmosphere. Within these mixed media paintings I have combined feint loose strokes with tight realism in an attempt to create disharmony. Figures are drawn surrounded by hostile spaces as my personal experiences surface and repress themselves in an indiscernible void.
Rather than displaying direct narratives a limited amount of information is given by means of signifiers. The scene is set to produce a stage-managed degree of mystery from which the viewer can fill-in the gaps and reach his own conclusion to an open-ended scenario.

Scenes are set to produce a stage-managed sense of mystery from which the viewer can experience the tension between representational and abstract notions of recall. In making artworks I have extended my delivery by using photography, Solar etching prints, ArtGraf charcoal, acrylic inks and process white.