Fergus Byrne is a multidisciplinary artist working in performance, sculpture and drawing. In performance he tests the materiality of his body, sometimes combining such action with spoken word. Through rigorous physical discipline he creates mesmerising performances.

He studied fine Art in NCAD in the 90s and then developed a solo performance practice. In 2003 he  completed an MA in Contemporary  Performance practices at Hull University. He taught life drawing for many years, which informed his own practise considerably

on the Performance Collective’, in Performance Art in Ireland: A History. More recently he has contributed to Art Action 1918 -2018, published by Le Lieu. He has also curated events and brought to this role an approach that brought varied art forms and audiences together –  Transversal series (2010-2012), curated in collaboration with dancer and songwriter Deirdre Murphy, Generation at The Dock (2013) and Offside Live I and II at the Hugh Lane Gallery  with Pallas Studios (2005) In 2015 he collaborated with Ambra Bergamasco in curating and producing the Moving Bodies Butoh Film Festival at The New Theatre, Dublin.

Behind his performance practice are a range of physical trainings – Martial Arts, Body Weather training and Contact Improvisation. 

STATEMENT

I am a multidisciplinary artist working in performance, sculpture, drawing and writing. I am based in Dublin, Ireland. Performances integrate movement with objects. Through being activated these objects create an energised, almost motorised state of the self upon which other more subtle actions and sometimes spoken text is layered. The work recognises and examines parallels between disciplines – sculpture, dance and drawing – and in placing the body at the centre of these activities presents a phenomenological exploration of these parallels.

WWW.FERGUSBYRNE.IE