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Michael J. Byron
Visual artist Michael Byron was born in 1954 in Providence, RI. He holds a B.F.A from the Kansas City Art Institute and a M.F.A from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Byron currently lives in St. Louis, MO where he is a Professor of Art at the Washington University School of Art.

Work
The essence of Byron's work is manifold: a continuing interest in the nature of objects, specifically the theatrical nature of objects of contemplation and a commitment to the practice of painting with strong sidebar interests in the relationship of text and image, and the continuing presence of Dada and Pataphysics in contemporary visual culture.

The conceptual concerns often exist as parallel series. On occasion the conceptual are combined in as in the Grisaille Series, 1997-2008. This series of paintings explores issues of representation. It has become common if not essential to question what one is looking at and what exactly is “real.”

The series began using 20th century artist identified objects and gave rise to an interest in objects of contemplation that derive their power not from the “virtuosity and genius” of the maker, but rather from the power of the subject matter. Byron began to include mythical and religious figures whose specific authorship is unknown, but whose identity is clearly discernible.

Examples of recent abstract paintings operate at the crossroads of the geometric and the gestural.

The geometric framing device is a nod to various modernist compositional strategies that range from cubism to Indian miniatures. The inclusion of the title plaque is an acknowledgment of the shift between the formal and the descriptive that is often present in geometric abstraction. Generally the geometric and gestural have been thought to be visually incompatible and a juxtaposition or combination should be avoided for harmonic considerations and visual logic. And yet that has been the precise reason for exploring the relationship.

Byron's installation pieces, such as For the Nun, House for Winnie Mandela and Amsterdam Tableau, are based on topical events and are meant to be perceived as actor-less theater.

Exhibition History
Byron had his first one person exhibition in May 1982, an installation entitled For the Nun at Artists Space, NYC. His association with this institution would continue with inclusion in the group exhibitions Social Spaces,1988, and demonclownmonkey, 2002. One person and group exhibitions in alternative spaces followed for the next two years culminating in his participation in An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in 1984.

The basic character of Byron's studio practice and conceptual investigation developed at this time while participating in P.S.1's National Studio Program (1982-83).

From 1984 to 1989 Byron continued to work and exhibit in New York City as well as in solo and group exhibitions in galleries elsewhere in the United States and in Europe. After participating in the 1989 Whitney Biennial Byron moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands where he lived and worked for five years.

Other exhibitions include: As Far as Amsterdam Goes, 1985, at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands: the Musee Departemental d'Art Ancien et Contemporain, in Epinal, France, 1992,and the 43rd Biennial of Contemporary American Painting at the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C. in 1993. In 1997 Byron participated in group exhibitions at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, The Magic of Numbersin Stuttgart, Germany and the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art's ''The City Series: St. Louis'', in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and in April, 2000, the "Deja Vu" exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, N.Y.

Solo museum exhibitions include the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, 1987, a joint exhibition sponsored by the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art and the Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum, both in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 1991. In March of 1996 a group of paintings entitled Short Stories were exhibited in the Current Solo Exhibition Program at the Saint Louis Art Museum. The Amitin Notebook Project first exhibited at the Contemporary Art Museum, St.Louis, November 2001 - February 2002, traveled to the Blaffer Gallery, the Museum of the University of Texas, Houston, June -September of 2002. An exhibition entitled "Cosmic Tears" is scheduled to open at the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis in September, 2009.

Bibliography, One-Person Exhibition Catalogues
The Amitin Notebbook Sketchbook, text by Mel Watkin & Michael Byron, Forum for Contemporary Art (2001)

Mind Fields, Michael Byron, text by Douglas Blau, Lund, Sweden, Anders Tornberg Gallery (1994)

Michael Byron, text by Roxana Marcoci, New York, New York, and Galerie Philippe Gravier, Paris, France, Elga Wimmer Gallery (1993)

Michael Byron, text by Holland Cotter, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art Rotterdam The Netherlands, and Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (1991)

Michael Byron, Cologne, Germany, Galerie Gisela Capitain (1990)

Awards
1989    N.E.A. grant; 1992    Werkbeurs; 1995    Bequia Summer Residency sponsored by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston