April 4, 2024
David Byrd
Nothing to Say
Matthew Brown Gallery
February 22 - March 30, 2024
David Byrd
David Byrd (1926-2013) was an artist living in the Hudson River Valley north of New York City who worked as an orderly in the psychiatric ward of the Montrose, New York veterans affairs hospital from 1958-1988. Before that, he studied at the Ozenfant School of Art (NY, NY), but did not pursue a career in the arts upon graduation. Rather, he worked odd jobs in New York City and then in 1958 moved near Montrose, NY to work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. At work, he began to observe the patients' daily rituals and routines, often making sketches during work hours. In essence, the patients became his muses.
During his retirement years, Byrd focused solely on his art and made drawings and paintings documenting his environs: both people and the landscape, as well as created works from his memories of working on the psych ward. In the final decade of this life, he began to chronicle his time at the Veterans Center, gathering drawings and textual fragments that described his experiences there and compiling them into a 218 page book. Many of these pages are on view in the exhibition.
Though not really recognized for his artworks during his lifetime, Byrd did have one solo exhibition in 2013 just before his death. In recent years, his work has found an audience and has been more widely exhibited and collected. Byrd painted because he wanted and he needed to. He regarded it as a meditative process and as a means toward self improvement. He states, "I tried to paint because I had the remote idea that it might serve me in my behavior to others." Looking at the works through the lens of need and self improvement, as well as direct observations of the sufferings of others, the images collectively not only document a specific era and place, but also the effect this work had on Byrd's psyche. His realistic scenarios were created with sketchy outlines and a soft palette consisting mostly of earth tones. They are compassionate and thoughtful, while also describing the horrors and suffering he witnessed.
This large exhibition — his debut in Los Angeles — is comprised of twenty-one paintings, eleven framed drawings from Byrd's sketchbook, as well as thirty pages from his handmade manuscript documenting his time at Montrose. The paintings are culled from different series and feature quirky landscapes and images representing his family, as well as patients at the hospital. In each, Byrd articulates a range of emotions, be they pain or pleasure. For example, in the oil on canvas Hell of an Evening (1992), three people are seated at a table in the center of a brown hued "room" that is otherwise mostly empty. A large woman has her back to us, another raises her fist in a fit of anger. On the left, a half naked man sleeps on a small bench. Two other male figures appear to be washing dishes at a sink located at the back of the room. An elongated figure in a blue coat or robe approaches a doorway on the right.
Feelings of distress and isolation are also captured in Patient Pondering (1995). Byrd depicts a receding interior space — a hallway or cell with a single light source. Five men are illuminated by this window. Closest to it, a man in brown pants and shirt with a green hat gazes into the distance, a patch of sun filling his chest. Behind him and further back in the room are the other men — two on the floor, one creeping against a wall and the last in blue silhouette toward the back. Each figure appears lost in their own thoughts, neither aware of nor engaged with each other. Other "hospital" paintings include Alcove (n.d.), Man With Mirror (1999) and Agonized (1970) where a man extends his body, splayed across a wooden chair, filling the composition like a hovering ghost with a clown- like, exagerated expression of agony emblazoned on his face.
Paintings like People at the Bar (P53), (1960), Pool Players (n.d.) and Sparring Partners (1954) fall more into the Social Realist tradition. Here, Byrd depicts the outside world, be it people playing pool, enjoying drinks at a fancy bar or gathering at a boxing match, capturing the everyday in a way reminiscent of Edward Hopper, Ben Shahn or Jacob Lawrence: stylized and illustrative simultaneously. As a painter, Byrd has a light touch. The works have a sketchy, drawn quality. His palette is sombre and his application of oils is subtle and washy rather than thick impasto.
In addition to these tender and captivating paintings, there are eleven framed, untitled pencil on paper drawings from Byrd's sketchbooks depicting interior and exterior scenes, as well as studies that juxtapose random fragments like in Sketchbook 5, p. 13, (n.d.) where he combines a woman in a swimsuit carrying an umbrella, a woman brushing her teeth, work boots and a man dressed in winter garb. His drawing style is both descriptive and expressive at once.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is the display of pages (spread out in vitrines) from Montrose VA 1958-1988, a self made book that Byrd worked on from 1999-2013. Here, he recorded his impressions and memories of working at Veterans Center, taping his small sketches to pieces of construction paper and compiling them into a 218 page artist book/diary. In pencil and all caps, the texts describe Byrd's observations in the hospital. He recorded in depth the interactions between patients and staff, as well as the ways he saw the patients relating to the physical space. Many of the drawings in the book were later recreated as paintings and it is interesting to compare the original sketches with them.
Byrd had a facile hand and was able to capture intense and often outrageous incidents with compassion and tenderness. One page from the book depicts and describes showering. It is a colored pencil sketch of two naked men against the wall in a room presumably showering, joined by a third that is more monster than human. The text reads: "Asked what does the picture represent, I can't say for sure. An old man with water feeling good on old bones, a middle person I thought would make the picture better, and a soaped up third character that is momentarily unrecognizable."
Byrd's images of the Veterans Center call to mind the works of Henry Darger and Martin Ramirez, both prolific "outsider" artists. While Byrd had artistic training, his works mine similar content — the goings on in the minds of those experiencing psychotic episodes and the places designed to keep them safe. The witty, psychological, and compassionate body of work he left for others to ponder resonates long after viewing.
Nothing to Say
Matthew Brown Gallery
February 22 - March 30, 2024
David Byrd
David Byrd (1926-2013) was an artist living in the Hudson River Valley north of New York City who worked as an orderly in the psychiatric ward of the Montrose, New York veterans affairs hospital from 1958-1988. Before that, he studied at the Ozenfant School of Art (NY, NY), but did not pursue a career in the arts upon graduation. Rather, he worked odd jobs in New York City and then in 1958 moved near Montrose, NY to work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. At work, he began to observe the patients' daily rituals and routines, often making sketches during work hours. In essence, the patients became his muses.
During his retirement years, Byrd focused solely on his art and made drawings and paintings documenting his environs: both people and the landscape, as well as created works from his memories of working on the psych ward. In the final decade of this life, he began to chronicle his time at the Veterans Center, gathering drawings and textual fragments that described his experiences there and compiling them into a 218 page book. Many of these pages are on view in the exhibition.
Though not really recognized for his artworks during his lifetime, Byrd did have one solo exhibition in 2013 just before his death. In recent years, his work has found an audience and has been more widely exhibited and collected. Byrd painted because he wanted and he needed to. He regarded it as a meditative process and as a means toward self improvement. He states, "I tried to paint because I had the remote idea that it might serve me in my behavior to others." Looking at the works through the lens of need and self improvement, as well as direct observations of the sufferings of others, the images collectively not only document a specific era and place, but also the effect this work had on Byrd's psyche. His realistic scenarios were created with sketchy outlines and a soft palette consisting mostly of earth tones. They are compassionate and thoughtful, while also describing the horrors and suffering he witnessed.
This large exhibition — his debut in Los Angeles — is comprised of twenty-one paintings, eleven framed drawings from Byrd's sketchbook, as well as thirty pages from his handmade manuscript documenting his time at Montrose. The paintings are culled from different series and feature quirky landscapes and images representing his family, as well as patients at the hospital. In each, Byrd articulates a range of emotions, be they pain or pleasure. For example, in the oil on canvas Hell of an Evening (1992), three people are seated at a table in the center of a brown hued "room" that is otherwise mostly empty. A large woman has her back to us, another raises her fist in a fit of anger. On the left, a half naked man sleeps on a small bench. Two other male figures appear to be washing dishes at a sink located at the back of the room. An elongated figure in a blue coat or robe approaches a doorway on the right.
Feelings of distress and isolation are also captured in Patient Pondering (1995). Byrd depicts a receding interior space — a hallway or cell with a single light source. Five men are illuminated by this window. Closest to it, a man in brown pants and shirt with a green hat gazes into the distance, a patch of sun filling his chest. Behind him and further back in the room are the other men — two on the floor, one creeping against a wall and the last in blue silhouette toward the back. Each figure appears lost in their own thoughts, neither aware of nor engaged with each other. Other "hospital" paintings include Alcove (n.d.), Man With Mirror (1999) and Agonized (1970) where a man extends his body, splayed across a wooden chair, filling the composition like a hovering ghost with a clown- like, exagerated expression of agony emblazoned on his face.
Paintings like People at the Bar (P53), (1960), Pool Players (n.d.) and Sparring Partners (1954) fall more into the Social Realist tradition. Here, Byrd depicts the outside world, be it people playing pool, enjoying drinks at a fancy bar or gathering at a boxing match, capturing the everyday in a way reminiscent of Edward Hopper, Ben Shahn or Jacob Lawrence: stylized and illustrative simultaneously. As a painter, Byrd has a light touch. The works have a sketchy, drawn quality. His palette is sombre and his application of oils is subtle and washy rather than thick impasto.
In addition to these tender and captivating paintings, there are eleven framed, untitled pencil on paper drawings from Byrd's sketchbooks depicting interior and exterior scenes, as well as studies that juxtapose random fragments like in Sketchbook 5, p. 13, (n.d.) where he combines a woman in a swimsuit carrying an umbrella, a woman brushing her teeth, work boots and a man dressed in winter garb. His drawing style is both descriptive and expressive at once.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is the display of pages (spread out in vitrines) from Montrose VA 1958-1988, a self made book that Byrd worked on from 1999-2013. Here, he recorded his impressions and memories of working at Veterans Center, taping his small sketches to pieces of construction paper and compiling them into a 218 page artist book/diary. In pencil and all caps, the texts describe Byrd's observations in the hospital. He recorded in depth the interactions between patients and staff, as well as the ways he saw the patients relating to the physical space. Many of the drawings in the book were later recreated as paintings and it is interesting to compare the original sketches with them.
Byrd had a facile hand and was able to capture intense and often outrageous incidents with compassion and tenderness. One page from the book depicts and describes showering. It is a colored pencil sketch of two naked men against the wall in a room presumably showering, joined by a third that is more monster than human. The text reads: "Asked what does the picture represent, I can't say for sure. An old man with water feeling good on old bones, a middle person I thought would make the picture better, and a soaped up third character that is momentarily unrecognizable."
Byrd's images of the Veterans Center call to mind the works of Henry Darger and Martin Ramirez, both prolific "outsider" artists. While Byrd had artistic training, his works mine similar content — the goings on in the minds of those experiencing psychotic episodes and the places designed to keep them safe. The witty, psychological, and compassionate body of work he left for others to ponder resonates long after viewing.