Ethan Murrow Mindful Explorations
Twenty years ago a few friends and I ran some speed and mobility tests on a bumpy dirt road. Propelled by curiosity, stupidity, ingenuity, naiveté and a need to be bold, we created a sleek but idiotic mode of transport. Our wheels, pipes, boards, duct tape, twine and wire never went fast. In fact, much to our combined amusement and frustration, the whole chaotic mess barely moved. I see a correlation between this childhood determination to succeed and an adult obsession with glory and heroism. ere is a point when passionate experimentation can transform into the obstinate pursuit of monumental results. is is where my characters reside, living dangerously close to disaster, embarrassment and innovation all at once. eir actions are defined by the catastrophes and accomplishments of past explorers and inventors. In front of the lens, in elaborately dysfunctional gear, I act the protagonist who dreams big yet will probably fall far. Working from the collected imagery I then glorify this character and the recorded events with large drawings and video dramas. As the central figure, I also embroil myself in a history of aspiration filled with brilliant new finds and ignorant mistakes.
Winston Wächter Fine Art
206.652.5855
-Ethan Murrow
gallery@winstonwachter.com www.winstonwachter.com
Vladmir Aral, Posing for the Dust Miners Recruitment Board, graphite on paper, 74 x 74 inches
Exhibition Installation 2015
“Everyone has ocean's to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?�
- Amelia Earhart
î “ree wall drawings in ballpoint pen at the Clay Center started in August 2013 and then were revisited in late October of the same year. Each of these focused on crumbling structures in the landscape and an attempt to bridge space.
Wall drawings at Clay Center, Charleston, WV, 2013, ballpoint pen
Opposite: detail, wall drawings at Clay Center, Charleston
Wall drawings at Clay Center, Charleston, WV, 2013, ballpoint pen
Opposite: detail, wall drawings at Clay Center, Charleston
Detail, wall drawings at Clay Center, Charleston, WV, 2013, ballpoint pen
Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.� - Ernest Shackleton
"State Flag" opened at Winston Wachter in New York City in April, 2014. î “e drawings in the show, including this wall drawing took a cynical view of statehood and the symbols of regional identity.
Washington D.C., 2014, ballpoint pen on wall, variable dimensions
Detail, Washington D.C., 2014, ballpoint pen on wall, variable dimensions
“It is not down on any map; true places never are.” - Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, e Whale
Detail, Flotilla 2013 ballpoint pen variable - site specific
Flotilla - part of the 2013 DeCordova Biennial in Lincoln, MA. î “is three story ballpoint pen wall drawing charted the messy history of the United States through the lens of watercraft. î “e map used four organizing factors 1) Hawaii and the west 2) Vikings and the east 3) Slavery and commerce and 4) Darwin and idiocy. It was an intentionally incomplete, cynical and aquatic view of the lust for power and supremacy, the needs and dangers of big commerce and industry and the constant battle between migration and ownership in America.
Detail, Flotilla 2013 ballpoint pen variable - site specific
“I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” - Neil Armstrong on looking back at the Earth from the Moon in July 1969
In this exhibition at Winston Wächter Fine Art Seattle, Will be Snaring Meteorites, Murrow features a female meteorite hunter. Murrow remarks on his newest narrative, “like many other characters I have developed, the meteorite hunter’s belief and direction is pure and singular. I both admire and fear this kind of certainty.”
“To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.� - Stephen Hawking
Untitled, 2014, sharpie on wall Variable dimensions - install view at oďŹƒces of Facebook Boston
î “is piece, a permanent installation, was executed in Sharpie pen and deals with the history of innovation in the Kendall Square area and the shaping of Charles River waterline. Facebook Boston commissioned this work as part of their Artist in Residence Program.
Education 2002 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Master of Fine Arts 1998 Carleton College, Northfield, MN, Received B.A. Studio Arts 1996 e Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughn, Ireland Selected Solo Exhibitions 2015 Feinberg Art Wall wall drawing, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA 2015 La Galerie Particuliere, Brussels, Belgium 2015 Slete, Culver City, CA 2015 Winston Wachter, Seattle, WA 2014 Winston Wachter, New York, NY 2013 La Galerie Particulière, Paris, France 2012 e Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, Charleston WV 2012 Obsolete, Venice, CA 2011 Winston Wächter, New York, NY 2011 La Galerie Particulière, Paris, France 2010 Will Be Snaring Meteorites, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA Obsolete, Venice, CA 2010 Kendall College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, MI 2009 Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York, NY e Big Draw, New Mexico Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM 2008 Obsolete Gallery, Venice, CA D3 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2007 Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA 2006 Bucheon, San Francisco, CA Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts, Burlington, VT 2005 Obsolete, Venice, CA Youngblood Gallery, Atlanta, GA Reeves Contemporary, New York, NY 2004 MPG Contemporary, Boston, MA Robert Rentz Gallery, Richmond, VA 2003 Aiken Center for the Arts, Aiken, SC Spheris Gallery, Bellows Falls, VT 2003 Space Lab Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH Doll-Anstadt Gallery, Burlington, VT 2002 Mitten Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA Durham Art Guild, Durham, NC 2001 Doll-Anstadt Gallery, Burlington, VT MPG Contemporary, Boston, MA 2000 Firehouse Center For e Visual Arts, Burlington, VT Art Space 150, Burlington, VT 1999 St. Michael's College Art Gallery, Colchester, VT
Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 2014 2014 2013 2012 2011
"Cannot be Described in Words - Drawing" New Art Center, Duxbury, MA “Real Maravilloso” La Galerie Particuliere, Brussels, Belgium “e Vault - Destilled Lives” video & audio compendium, Spaces, Cleveland, OH deCordova Biennial, Lincoln, MA “Like, Comment, Share” Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington D.C. “e Universe - Seeing is Knowing” e Weitz Center Museum, Carleton College, Northfield, MN 2010 Fast Forward- Four for the Future” Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM 2010 But is it Drawing? Brattleboro Museum of Art, Brattleboro, VT 2009 On Paper Jenkins Johnson, New York, NY 2009 H20 Film on Water, Reeves Contemporary, New York, NY 2008 New Prints, e International Print Center, New York, NY 2008 Winston Wächter Fine Art Group Show, Seattle, WA 2006 Spring Highlights, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA Art NOVA Fair (with Bucheon S. F.) Chicago, IL 2005 Art of the 20th Century show at the Armory (with Reeves Contemporary) New York, NY e Ever-Changing Landscape Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY 17th Annual Works on Paper show, the Armory, New York, NY 2004 Building a Legacy e Bemis Center, Bemis, NE Art of the 20th Century show at the Armory, New York, NY Land, Colby Sawyer College Art Gallery New London, NH Mapping collaborative wall drawing exhibition at the West Gallery Corvallis, OR 16th Annual Works on Paper show at the Armory, New York, NY New Blood Finer ings Gallery, Nashville, TN Grand Opening e Currier Center for the Arts, Putney, VT 2003 Charcoal Reeves Contemporary, New York, NY e Viewing Room, New York, NY Violent Violence Gallery Art et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, Holland Patron Purchase Creative Arts Guild, Dalton, GA 2002 Coloring Words e Fotogalerie, Fringe Club, Hong Kong New Currents in Contemporary Art Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC Texas National, Steven F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX All Media IV International, Period Gallery, Omaha, NE Paper in Particular National Exhibition, Columbia College, Columbia, MO 2001 International Sculpture Center's 2001 Outstanding Student Achievement in Sculpture Exhibition, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ Loom, Installation Work at the Label Mill, Pittsboro Label Mill, Pittsboro, NC Ethan Murrow and Jeremy Taylor, Allcott Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC 1999 South End Hop, Boxcar Gallery, Burlington, VT 1998 Art Onslaught, Carleton Gallery, Northfield, MN 1997 Five Artist's New Work, Beside Myself Gallery, Arlington, VT
Filmography 2008 “Dust,” Oficial Selection, 46th annual New York Film Festival, New York, NY, Cowriter, actor and narrator, produced with Harvest Films, Santa Monica, CA Residencies, Fellowships, Awards 2011 Award for Teaching Excellence, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2011 Artist in Residence at the Red Stables, courtesy of the City of Dublin, invited to create limited edition lithographs with master printers. Supported by SMFA Faculty Enrichment Grant. e Graphic Studio, Dublin, Ireland 2007 Artist in Residence, invited to create three limited edition lithographs with master printers. e Tamarind Institute, e University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM2004 Artist in Residence (March-May), Fellowship, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE Artist in Residence (January), Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT 2003 Artist in Residence, (June, July), Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 2003 Artist in Residence (October, November), e Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughn, Ireland Emerging Artist Space Lab exhibition award, Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio 2002 e Viewing Program, juried slide registry, e Drawing Center, New York, NY 2001 Outstanding Student Achievement Award for Sculpture from the International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, NJ 1999 e People's Choice Award at the South End Hop Juried Competition, Burlington, VT 1998 e Sigrid and Erling Larsen Award for creative excellence in the arts at Carleton College, Northfield, MN 1996 Hyslop-Warnholtz Artist's Grant, Carleton College Art Department, for travel and intensive study of art at the Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughn, Ireland Collections Facebook Inc. Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences e Guggenheim Foundation Cornell Fine Arts Museum e University of New Mexico Liberty Media e Guggenheim Foundation Harvest Films Burton Snowboards e Copper Press 20th Century Fox Burj Dubai e Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts
Winston Wächter Fine Art 203 Dexter Ave North Seattle, WA 98109 [t] 206.652.5855 [e] gallery@winstonwachter.com www.winstonwachter.com