ONE of Ireland's leading contemporary artists who was inspired by the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin is to become artist-in-residence at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Gerard Byrne was born in Finglas and began his career as an electrician before focusing on art. He spent many years living at ‘The Art House’ in Dalkey before moving to London.
Over the past three decades, Byrne repeatedly visited the Botanic Gardens, close to where he grew up, to capture the vibrancy and lushness of the flora and dramatic renderings of the iconic wrought-iron architecture of the great Victorian Palm Houses.
He now has his own gallery in Dublin and last month Felix Loh, CEO of the iconic Gardens by the Bay nature park in Singapore paid a visit along with Patrick Bourne, Irish Ambassador to Singapore.
It was a fruitful meeting resulting in an official invitation for Gerard to paint using the plein-air technique during his upcoming trip to the Gardens by the Bay, which span 101 hectares of reclaimed land and features spectacular ‘supertrees’ and the largest glass greenhouse in the world.
Gerard will now head off to Singapore Botanic Gardens to reside as artist-in-residence for a period of one month.
The residency will culminate in an exhibition of his botanical paintings from Ireland and Kew Gardens, London alongside his new Singaporean collection.
The exhibition ‘Botanical Fusion’ will be displayed at People's Gallery, Singapore Botanic Gardens, for a period of 10 weeks, from September 6 to November 10.
Gerard paints both from reality and imagination. When his vivid imagination merges with reality he exceeds both categories creating exuberant images which hover on the verge of abstract.
His unique blend, near kaleidoscope, of style and subject explain his emergence as an established force in Irish art and increasing internationally.
To get an insight of Gerard’s residency in Singapore Botanic Gardens, follow him on Instagram @gerard_byrne_artist or visit www.gerardbyrneartist.com.