Byron Buchanan

About Byron Buchanan

Byron Buchanan Portraits in the Collection of International House Bold, compelling, and uniquely inventive: in a hotel known for having its finger on the pulse of New Orleans' innovative spirit, the mesmerizing works of Byron Buchanan pay homage to a universal creativity, personified in a series called "The Creative Ones." Commissioned by International House owner Sean Cummings, the private collection includes more than forty large-scale mixed media portraits and finds public expression through rotating installations in the soaring hotel lobby of the elegant Beaux Arts building. Curated groups are tailored to specific meetings at the hotel and grace the storied walls of Kingsway Studio, a captivating French Quarter venue, former legendary recording studio and now Cummings’ home. Says Cummings, “This collection is a tribute to heroes of mine. Creative. Courageous. Rebels of the best sort. By honoring people and VOICES we greatly admire through Byron’s art, we make our own values known. These people inspire me every day.” Los Angeles-based Buchanan is represented in collections across America, Europe, and Russia, including those of Dr. Dre, Yves Saint Laurent Corporate Headquarters, Paris, and Macy's New York. His mixed media portraits project iconic likenesses of supremely creative individuals, mostly contemporary, all game-changers. Each work is heavily researched, and collages of newspaper clippings and other documentation become a literal, integral backdrop of each portrait. Musicians from Maria Callas to Willie Nelson. Engineers from Nikola Tesla to Ferdinand Porsche. Visionaries from Walt Disney to Steve Jobs. Sporting greats from Jackie Robinson to Pete Maravich. Political pioneers from Ruby Bridges to Mahatma Gandhi. Add a few others who “came to live out loud,” like Basquiat, Bukowski, Lennon, Dylan and Bono. And that most elegant woman of all, Audrey. Re-examined and re-presented in sensitive layerings that combine classic atelier techniques with the artist's own modern methods, The Creative Ones are as fresh and riveting as ever. Through the monochromatic restraint of newsprint and black and white photography, and the exuberance of gold leaf and spray paint, they endow the walls of International House with the power of human inspiration.