The Boom is Back – Photo Exhibition by Greg Byrne

About the Exhibition: This series confronts the harsh realities of housing in contemporary Ireland through eight sardonic and incisive images. Presented as a visual catalogue for an auction of decorative objects, each large-scale image initially appears opulent but gradually shifts towards the absurd.

The objects depicted are the decorative bric-a-brac amassed from the artist’s rented apartment. None belong to him.

Such items, whether property of the landlord or castoffs of previous tenants are hallmarks of modern rental properties. Greg’s work foregrounds the anxiety and lack of dominion that emerge from the precarious state of occupying the identity of ‘renter’. These transient, often overlooked objects accumulate a deeper sense of belonging and right to exist than we possess ourselves. Embedded in daily life, they silently expose the hidden fragility and marginalisation within this domestic existence.

In a ‘booming’ economy marked by widespread homelessness, ‘The Boom is Back’ quietly captures the absurd exploitation facing ‘Generation Rent’ by playing with the increasingly impermanent concept of ‘home’ in contemporary Ireland. It challenges viewers to reconsider their own definitions of ‘home’ and to reflect on the societal value placed on an individual’s life.