John Gerrard

John Gerrard is an Irish artist who creates digital artworks that look like film but are actually virtual simulations. Using real-time computer graphics, his works unfold continuously, often depicting quiet, looping scenes that reflect on energy, power and the climate crisis.

Gerrard’s practice draws on technology originally developed for military and gaming use, which he adapts to create slow, meditative portraits of industrial landscapes and ecological change. Often set in remote or symbolic locations, these works hold a mirror to systems of extraction, labour and environmental breakdown.

He has exhibited widely, with recent projects including Leaf Work at the Biennale of Sydney and Phileas, Vienna, Flare at COP26 in Glasgow, and infin.1.iridescent.stream in Paris. His work has also been shown at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; LACMA, Los Angeles; Somerset House, London; and the Gwangju, Okayama and Galway biennials.

Gerrard’s work is held in major collections including Tate, MoMA, SFMOMA, LACMA and M+, Hong Kong.

Born in Tipperary in 1974, he studied at Oxford University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lives and works in Dublin.