CHRISTOPHER MURPHY
Sturm & Drang
“My most recent series of drawings exists at the intersection of two often combative forces of nature: her overpowering turbulence versus her serenely rhythmic patterns and cycles.� - Christopher Murphy, 2013
Lora Schlesinger is pleased to announce Christopher Murphy’s fifth solo-exhibition with the gallery. Sturm and Drang features new exquisitely rendered drawings by the artist. The exhibition opens with the artist’s reception on Saturday, April 20 from 5 to 7 pm and is on view through June 1, 2013. Using photos from his own travels in addition to found ones (from his family albums and antique stores) as the basis for his work, Murphy creates entirely new realities by dramatically restaging the action, recontextualizing figures, or inventing scenarios. The satiny grays of the graphite nod to the often black and white photographic origins of these pieces. Additionally, his drawings are connected to the verisimilar miniature dioramas and scale models that he fastidiously constructed as a child; he endeavors to render mountains, trees, figures, and scenes with the same attention to detail he once gave to an N-Gauge railroad car or tin soldier's epaulettes. Murphy takes a Romantic approach in his depiction of nature, with a particular interest in the dual qualities of terror and beauty that can simultaneously be experienced in natures presence—a kind of tragic joy. He searches for the aesthetic beauty in the power of a violent conflagration, or depicting the placidity in the aftermath of a flood, or using composition to portray an explosive moment as both furious and tranquil. By rendering figures as diminutive in an expansive landscape, from behind, or completely absent, it is Murphy’s attempt to guide the gaze of the viewer, either inviting them into the environment directly or providing a mediating perspective through which to experience the sublime sweep of these places or events. Murphy was born in 1977 and grew up in Irvine, CA. He earned his B.F.A. from Art Center College of Design in 2002, with the highest honor of graduation with distinction, on a full tuition scholarship from the school. His work has been reviewed by The Los Angeles Times, Artweek, and Art Papers.
View of the Fire from Elysian Park, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 15-7/8 x 25-15/16”, Frame: 24-1/8 x 33-1/2”
Wanderer Above the Mist of Sea, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 38 x 29-1/4”, Frame: 46 x 36-3/4”
The Valley is a Flood Plain, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 23-1/4 x 34”, Framed: 30-1/2 x 41-1/2”
Sweeping the Prairie, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 22-1/4 x 30”, Frame: 30-1/4 x 37-1/2”
Devour, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 20-1/2 x 33”, Frame: 28-1/2 x 40-1/2”
The Virgin River Spills Her Banks, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 27-1/2 x 38-3/4”, Frame: 35-1/2 x 46-1/4”
Caldera, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 19-1/4 x 27”, Frame: 27-3/4 x 34-3/4”
Gyre, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 16 x 19-3/4”, Framed: 23-1/2 x 26-3/4”
Exodus, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 18-3/4 x 36-1/2”, Frame: 26-3/4 x 44-1/4”
Heave, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 14-1/8 x 13-1/6”, Frame: 21-1/2 x 20”
Eruption, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 17-7/16 x 21”, Frame: 25-1/2 x 28-1/2”
Barrier, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 17-1/16 x 24-1/8”, Frame: 25 x 31-1/2”
Tinder, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 12-7/8 x 13-1/8”, Frame: 20-1/4 x 20-1/4”
Sweeping the Valley, 2013, Graphite on paper, Image: 27-1/2 x 33-1/4”, Frame: 35 x 40-1/2”
CHRISTOPHER MURPHY 1977 Born: Irvine, CA Education 2002 B.F.A., Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA Solo Exhibitions 2013 2011 2008 2005 2003 2002
Sturm and Drang, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Forget That You Were Young, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA The Dawn of Luxury, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Matter in the Wrong Place, Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA Only A Reed, Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA Creative Artist Agency, Beverly Hills, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions 2012 Summer Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Landscapes Revisited, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Small Paintings, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2011 Gallery Artists, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2010 small works, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Faces, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2009 The Toy Show II, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Draw the Line, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2006 Undertow, Metalstone Gallery, New York, NY 2003 Image & Enigma, Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
2002 Paintings, Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA Figure This II, Fine Art Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, CA Group Show, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA Group Show, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA 2001 Group Show, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Awards 2012
New American Paintings Editorʼs Pick and Readerʼs Choice Award
Bibliography 2013 2011 2008 2006 2004 2003
Christopher Murphy, New American Paintings # 103, Vol. 17, No. 6, December/January 2013: pg. 98-101. Zellen, Jody. Christopher Murphy, Art Scene, Vol. 31, No. 1, September 2011 Ollman, Leah. His Paintings Capture Change, Los Angeles Times, September 19 Zellen, Jody. ʻChristopher Murphyʼ at Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Art Papers, March/April Frank, Peter. ʻImage & Enigmaʼ at Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art, Artweek, February 2004 Blizzard, Peggy. Artist has successful first solo professional show, Irvine World News, August 21 Knight, Christopher. Emergence from the void, Los Angeles Times, July 25