George Byrne: Post Truth
Turning the spatial flotsam of the Anthropocene, or what architect Rem Koolhaas famously referred to as “junkspace,” into candy-colored dreamscapes, photographer George Byrne depicts the gritty urbanism of Los Angeles in sublime otherworldliness. Arriving a decade ago, the Australian artist was immediately enthralled by the sprawling cityscape, mesmerized by the way the sunlight transformed it into two-dimensional, almost painterly abstractions. In his Post Truth series (2015–20), Byrne reassembles his photos of the urban landscape into striking, ascetic collages of color and geometric fragments, creating postmodernist oases in the metropolis. By masterfully harnessing the malleability of the photographic medium, the photographer situates his work in the space between real and imagined. Byrne’s compositions evoke associations with Miami Beach’s Art Deco, the Memphis Group’s designs, as well as the painting of David Hockney or Ed Ruscha, and at the same time tap into the aesthetics of today’s visual culture played out on Instagram.This vibrantly illustrated catalog showcases more than 60 images from the series and features text by the design writer Ian Volner, as well as a foreword by Byrne himself.
Turning the spatial flotsam of the Anthropocene, or what architect Rem Koolhaas famously referred to as “junkspace,” into candy-colored dreamscapes, photographer George Byrne depicts the gritty urbanism of Los Angeles in sublime otherworldliness. Arriving a decade ago, the Australian artist was immediately enthralled by the sprawling cityscape, mesmerized by the way the sunlight transformed it into two-dimensional, almost painterly abstractions. In his Post Truth series (2015–20), Byrne reassembles his photos of the urban landscape into striking, ascetic collages of color and geometric fragments, creating postmodernist oases in the metropolis. By masterfully harnessing the malleability of the photographic medium, the photographer situates his work in the space between real and imagined. Byrne’s compositions evoke associations with Miami Beach’s Art Deco, the Memphis Group’s designs, as well as the painting of David Hockney or Ed Ruscha, and at the same time tap into the aesthetics of today’s visual culture played out on Instagram.This vibrantly illustrated catalog showcases more than 60 images from the series and features text by the design writer Ian Volner, as well as a foreword by Byrne himself.
Turning the spatial flotsam of the Anthropocene, or what architect Rem Koolhaas famously referred to as “junkspace,” into candy-colored dreamscapes, photographer George Byrne depicts the gritty urbanism of Los Angeles in sublime otherworldliness. Arriving a decade ago, the Australian artist was immediately enthralled by the sprawling cityscape, mesmerized by the way the sunlight transformed it into two-dimensional, almost painterly abstractions. In his Post Truth series (2015–20), Byrne reassembles his photos of the urban landscape into striking, ascetic collages of color and geometric fragments, creating postmodernist oases in the metropolis. By masterfully harnessing the malleability of the photographic medium, the photographer situates his work in the space between real and imagined. Byrne’s compositions evoke associations with Miami Beach’s Art Deco, the Memphis Group’s designs, as well as the painting of David Hockney or Ed Ruscha, and at the same time tap into the aesthetics of today’s visual culture played out on Instagram.This vibrantly illustrated catalog showcases more than 60 images from the series and features text by the design writer Ian Volner, as well as a foreword by Byrne himself.
