Charles Byrd

Charles Byrd was born in 1916 in Pontypridd, Glamorgan. He is a self-taught painter, sculptor and kinetic artist. In 1948 he attended evening classes at Cardiff School of Art and in 1950 became a full-time artist. Until then he had a variety of jobs from photographer to aircraft fitter. He has lived and worked in Cardiff for most of his life. In 1970 HTV showed a feature filrm about Byrd called "Wheels, Bells, Spirals"; in 1984 a film was made about him for the 5th Celtic Film & Television Festival in Cardiff and screend under the title The Time & Motion Man: The Charles Byrd Documentary; his 'Museum of Magical Machines' was on show at the Old Library in Cardiff from 1989 to 1996, since then it has been in storage in Swansea to become, eventually, part of the Grand Theatre Arts Complex at the Old Bus Depot. Cardiff Central Library exhibits a bust of Charles Byrd sculpted by Chris Kelly.

Charles Byrd: Painter & Sculptor of kinetic sculptures and contemporary automata. Jeni Williams writes in PLANET No.158: "From the start Byrd's work demonstrated a sophisticated sense of structure. He claims he learnt his art mainly by looking at reproductions and, considering that such reproductions were usually in black & white..., it is not surprising that his own work should be so highly patterned..., his training as an engineer probably heightened his sensitivity to the architectural ordering of space in the first place... [his] are paintings that commemorate the layered spaces of Cardiff Docklands, each one presenting a still, enclosed world with very little sky and the odd individual figure momentarily suspended in loving impasto... [pointing out the lack of sky] he admitted he was more interested in the arrangement of space.
Charles Byrd's work [his kinetic sculptures] adds to the repertoire of our visual images, rooted deeply in an industrial workplace and in the degeneration and anxiety that has attended its decline. Byrd's work not only documents our experience in Wales but is part of its making....

In 1989 David Briers wrote that Byrd seemed like a classic 'Outsider Artist' and that his art is highly idiosyncratic. "...he has largely pursued his chosen path away from the mainstream art-world preoccupations of applying for grants and hoping for reviews in certain art magazines...in fact, such an appraisal of Charles Byrd and his work is too easy to make. [His] machines are not the only sort of art Charles Byrd has made, for his art divides into three clear periods. During the fifties and early sixties he made figurative canvases...they can conveniently be called 'naive', but there is nothing very naive about them. During the 1960s he suddenly abandoned this sort of work altogether and turned to experimenting with abstract paintings". After doing some terra cotta modelling Byrd became interested in the work of international kinetic artists. This became his third period of creativity for which he is best known. Brier says that: "In a different context, some of Charles Byrd's art might be neo-funky art in New York, or maquettes for post-modern architecture, except that it is more genuine than either".

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s his work was typified by figurative, highly detailed paintings, with a fresh and naïve quality, depicting scenes of everyday life in and around Cardiff, where he has lived and worked all his life. A selection of paintings by the artist were donated by him to Cardiff Central Library. During the 1960s Byrd abandoned this style of work altogether, and experimented with abstract themes, eventually moving into kinetic sculpture, for which he is probably best known. His work is represented in many public collections throughout Wales and beyond (quoted from http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item10/32277)

Awards: 1970 Welsh Arts Council Award Towards Sculpture (the sculpture is displayed at University Hospital Cardiff); WAC/RNE.

Commissions: c.1950s a 'View of Dinas Powis' commissioned by the late Councillor Malcom Thomas; 'House & Garden' commissioned by Mr.Foster of Dinas Powis;

Early Exhibitions: 1951 South Wales Art Society at David Morgan (first exhibition ever, the entry was 'Gipsy Caravan-Leckwith Moor'); c.1954 Newport Museum & Art Gallery (picture 'Gipsy Camp-Leckwith' purchased by Monmouthshire Education Authorities); the National Museum of Wales; Howard Roberts Gallery Cardiff;
Later Exhibitions: 1970 National Eisteddfod; 1973 kinetic works at the Serpentine Gallery London; 1997 kinetic works at Oriel Myrddin Carmarthen (Making Movement-an exhibition of Contemporary Automata); Butetown History & Arts Centre (paintings of Cardiff Docks)

Public Collections: 1950s Monmouthshire Education Authority; Glamorgan Education Authority; Merthyr Education Authority, Gwent Education Authority; 1960s South Glamorgan County Council at County Hall Atlantic Wharf (the artist donated 30 paintings of old Tiger Bay); 1997 Butetown History & Arts Centre (two donated abstract paintings); 2000 the New Central Library Cardiff (the artist donated the construction 'String Figure', 50 paintings & 30 terra cotta sculptures); Newport Museum & Art Gallery (three paintings: 'The Mayflower Restaurant', 'Studio Chair' & 'Central Market' as well as two constructions i.e. S.S.Windbell Construction & a kinetic work);

International Links: 1970s two kinetic Works were acquired by the Ripley's 'Believe It Or Not' Museum USA; also shown in Toronto Canada;