déjà vu, magical realism and americana blend in george byrne's collage dreamscapes

George Byrne presents solo exhibition at show gallery

Australian artist George Byrne presents his solo exhibition Synthetica, blending elements of déjà vu, magical realism, and Americana at Show Gallery in Los Angeles. In this new series of photo collages, Byrne aims to challenge the misconception that his work is created using AI. Instead, he starts with medium format film photographs taken with his Pentax 67 camera and engages in addition, subtraction, and collage. The resulting images possess the vivid clarity of modernist artwork, transforming everyday landscapes and surfaces into painterly abstractions. ‘I’m more curious about the process of making photos, rather than taking them, which happens through experimentation with various forms of manipulation and digital reconstruction,’ Byrne says. The exhibition pays homage to the artist’s analog roots and the influence of new topographic photographers, presenting recognizable locations from road trips across the US with an underlying dreamlike quality.

Four Walls, 2024 | all images courtesy of George Byrne

Synthetica: Exploring the Intersection of Urbanity and Nature

In Synthetica, George Byrne (find more here) presents glimpses of Los Angeles’ urbanity intertwined with snapshots of landscapes from his road trips across the country. His work exhibited at Show Gallery (find more here) merges natural and man-made scenes—from Daytona Beach to Death Valley, Yellowstone National Park to Miami’s Cuban quarter—into decentralized dreamscapes with no discernible location. The resulting pieces oscillate between the natural and the artificial world, drawing on influences from modernism, theosophy, and AI.

‘I think the message of this show is magic and synthesis. It’s part dreams, part diary entry, and part escapism. I strive to make epic scenes out of everyday spaces, but for Synthetica, I chose also to point the lens back at nature, in a way that I haven’t before,’ Byrne explains. ‘My work is a comment on the way I perceive the world around me, it’s a way of seeing the thing in front of me, and then sitting down and concentrating my mind to see if I can envisage something past the thing, the imagined world.’

Biloxi, Mississippi, 2024