Bellevue painter creates take on Great Depression photography
CRANBERRY TWP — Subjects of Alan Byrne’s paintings include children living during the Great Depression, cars cruising the streets of Cuba and famous figures like Frank Lloyd Wright.
Byrne gets many of his reference photos from copyright-free sources online, but went out of his way to get permission to paint a picture of actor Charlie Chaplin, whose image in a film was not yet in the public domain.
“I wrote to the Charlie Chaplin society in Paris, and they said as long as you’re not mass producing it, it’s fine,” Byrne said, referencing his painting of Chaplin being swallowed by a gear as shown in the 1936 movie “Modern Times.”
These paintings, along with many more images and some models created by Byrne, are displayed in the Cranberry Artists Network gallery hall at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center.
Byrne, of Bellevue, Allegheny County, who has long been a member of the Cranberry Artists Network, asked the group if he could fill the hall with his art through February, when the network had no group shows planned.
While Byrne’s paintings run the length of the hall and his models pack the shelves of the municipal center’s display case, he said it’s just a small sample of his work because he paints “all the time I don’t spend doing something else.” Even though he still teaches at the Community College of Allegheny County, Byrne finds enough time to paint almost every night.
“I could have filled this hall three times over,” he said.
The Cranberry Artists Network is made up of artists, not only from Cranberry Township, but from around Western Pennsylvania. Byrne himself is a member of several artist groups that are active in the region.
The group hosts activities like a weekly portrait session in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, as well as in other venues in the area. The township installed the Cranberry Artists Network’s gallery hall in the municipal center last year, because of the organization’s frequent activity there.
Rebecca Harvey, the organization’s gallery schedule coordinator, said members can pitch shows to occupy the gallery during periods when there are no other displays or shows scheduled there.
“We have a schedule, and when there are gaps in the schedule, so to speak, the members are permitted to sign up and fill those gaps,” Harvey said. “So that’s one of the perks of being a member.”
Kathy Bischak, public relations chairwoman for the organization, said other exhibits are scheduled to be in the municipal center throughout the rest of the year, with March also hosting a network member’s solo display. Byrne has been a member of the group for years, said Bischak, who commented that his work is as extensive as it is varied in subject.
“Alan, I’ve never seen him work small. He does all big,” she said.
Aside from the paintings along the hall wall, there are images in the display case that are also part of Byrne’s exhibit, including a model of a hot dog cart, but these are formats Byrne hasn’t created in for a few years.
“I have’t done one in a while,” he said, “I’ve been concentrating on paintings.”
Byrne said many of his paintings are based on free-to-use photos collected from across the nation that he found on the U.S. Library of Congress’ website.
Working mainly in oil painting, Byrne’s images largely depict bright scenes involving people in mundane activities, but further context on the paintings reveals that many are based on photos taken during the Great Depression. Byrne said many of the subjects he painted are from the Farm Security Administration Photo Project, a program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 to build support for New Deal rural relief programs.
The paintings in the Cranberry Township building are some of Byrne’s favorites, although he has many more at home. He said some of the images also were featured in a show at the Carnegie Museum of Art in 2009 and are some of his earliest paintings hanging in the municipal center.
“I’ve been going through them for years, and I’m not even halfway through,” Byrne said. “A lot of them are just cover shots or photographers shooting a whole roll of film. So I pick out the one I like the best.”
Byrne said his favorite images to paint are of children during the Great Depression, because they did not fully understand the circumstances they were living under. Many were captured in photos playing typical children’s games, like marbles.
“It was just some of the greatest photographers of the century just shooting every aspect of life,” Byrne said.
Other paintings in the exhibit that Byrne particularly enjoys are paintings of vintage cars in Cuba, where the lack of manufacturers means their drivers have to repair them in makeshift ways that leave them with unique looks.
And the exhibit is not just populated with paintings — Byrne has a “scratch art” piece hanging in the gallery, in which he scraped away a page until it depicted an image; as well as a few computer-assisted pieces, like the Chaplin piece, which he used Adobe Illustrator to create.
The exhibit also features a self-portrait that Byrne said came about somewhat by accident. He took a photograph of a storefront and noticed his reflection in the window. He painted that image, featuring his reflection holding a camera, and it now hangs in the collection at the Cranberry Township building.
He described his artistic process for painting, which he now has down to a pretty consistent science.
“I start with a pencil drawing of the picture, and then I fill it in from there,” Byrne said. “I always have music on when I paint.”
Bischak said she has enjoyed Byrne’s work, and his art in the municipal center this month is a good survey of his talents.
“His work is really powerful,” Bischak said.
Byrne’s gallery will be up in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center through the end of February.
For more information on the Cranberry Artists Network, visit its website at cranberryartistsnetwork.com. Byrne’s work can be found on his own website at alanbyrneart.com.
