Theresa Byrnes

Australian-born artist Theresa Byrnes began to exhibit her paintings in 1986 at the age of 16. She has had over 20 solo shows at spaces including Saatchi & Saatchi in New York and Sydney, Cristianne Nienaber Contemporary Art NYC, the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C., and many others. In 1996 Byrnes was awarded a Young Australian of the Year award, her performance pieces have been called "wondrous," "purist," and "uncompromising," by London's Daily Mirror. Byrnes published her autobiography The Divine Mistake in 1999 (Pan Macmillan, Australia). She moved from Sydney to New York in 2000 and received Pollock-Krasner awards in 2003 and 2006.

“…Byrnes is a provocateur whose sometimes uncomfortable offerings are designed to provoke a reaction in her audience. And by placing her body and mind at the centre of her art she challenges her own interpretation and her own vision. It is no surprise that her work has a strong evolutionary thread. It is organic, earthy, and, like the cycle of life theme of many of her paintings, it grows. Uncompromisingly she is woman’ channeling life, death, fear and joy, through an exposed, vulnerable human shell. It is all on the line, and that is the wonder of Byrnes art." - Martin Newman, art critic The Daily Mirror, London, 2010.