TODD MURPHY

< BACK TO ARTIST PAGE (WORKS) >

Biography

BORN | 1962, Chicago, Illinois Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York

EDUCATION | 1986 University of Georgia, BA

For more than three decades, Todd Murphy has explored a practice that combines sculpture, painting and photography. With the inquisitiveness of a 19th century Naturalist, Murphy has travelled to the far reaches of the world, collecting, photographing, and fastidiously cataloging everything from melting glaciers, to aviary species, to exotic fruit. His photographic studies of curiosities become sources for complex narratives based on philosophy, mythology, and the supernatural. In his work, Murphy often goes beyond these classical prototypes to include subtexts of bigotry, Southern history, and fantastic literary stories. In the end, his recurring protagonists — horses, birds, dresses, and boats — are poetic vehicles for a humanistic discourse.


exhibitions

2018   

Todd Murphy: From Here to There. Hidell Brooks Gallery,    Charlotte, NC. October 5-27, 2018.  Link

 The ideal Feminine/ The Feminine Ideal? curated by Natasha Schlesinger, Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York, NY. May 23-August 30, 2018.  Link

Todd Murphy: A Solo Exhibition. Minotti by HA Modern showroom Suite 413, Design ADAC, Atlanta, GA, April 25-26, 2018.

2017    

Art Stage. Marc Straus at Art Stage Singapore, Booth C6, Singapore, January 12–15, 2017.

VOLTA NY. Marc Straus at VOLTA NY, Booth A08, March 01–05, 2017.

Art Central. Marc Straus at Art Central Hong Kong, Booth E05, Hong Kong, March 17–25, 2017.

Art Brussels. Marc Straus at Art Brussels, Germany, April 21–24, 2017.

2016

Marc Straus. New York, N.Y., October 26–December 11, 2016.

2012    

Narrow Road to the Far South.  Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, January 27-April 7, 2012.

2010

Astolfi Art, Atlanta GA, September 18, 2010

 Todd Murphy--Sovereign Tree. Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, October 30, 2009- January 16, 2010. Link

2009     

A Narrow Road to the Far South Atlanta Celebrates Photography. King Plow Arts Center, Atlanta, GA, September 25, 2009

2007     

Keyhole: Constructed Paintings by Todd Murphy. Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, FL, April 28-August 26, 2007.

Artworks by Todd Murphy. Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI, October 6- November 10, 2007.

2004

Co-Conspirators:Artist and Collector. The Collection of James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett. The Orlando Museum of Art. July 24- October 31, 2004

2003    

Seven Messengers: Selections from the Art Council Project. The Art Count Project, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, Va., June 6–July 5, 2003

Bill Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 2003.

Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., System & Cycles In Natural History, March 21, 2003.

2001  

Chorus of Light: Photographs From the Sir Elton John Collection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, November 4, 2000-January 28, 2001.

Todd Murphy Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA. March-April 2001.

2000   

Art at the Edge: Todd Murphy, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga. February 26–May 21, 2000 (exhibition brochure).

Hindsight/Fore-site: Art for the New Millennium, Bayly Art Museum. University of Virginia Art Museum, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Va., June 2–August 13, 2000 (exhibition brochure).

1998   

Todd Murphy: New Paintings, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Mich., September 23–November 28, 1998.

 Todd Murphy. The Second Coming, Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., December 11,  (December 4-December 31) ,1998.

1997    

Transformation Horse. Haines Gallery, San Francisco, Calif., April 1997.

Transformation Horse: Works by Todd Murphy. Albany Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga., May 29–August 3, 1997.

Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Mich., October 17–November 17, 1997 (exhibition brochure).

1996     

Painted and Constructed. University of Connecticut, Atrium Gallery, Hartford, Conn., 1996.

Decathlon. Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., June 1996.

Matters of the Heart. Haines Gallery, San Francisco, Calif., 1996.

Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, illinois, 1996.

Cultured Pearl, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.

The New Museum, New York City, NY, 1996.

1995    

Haines Gallery, San Francisco, Calif., 1995.

Todd Murphy, The New World. Chassie Post, New York, N.Y., September–October 1995. Solo

The New World. Fay Gold Gallery, Ga., October 21–November 8, 1995.

The New World. The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC, December 1995.

1995 New Orleans Triennial, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1995.

Reframing Exposure, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California. 

The Collector’s Vision, Contemporary Art from the Collection of Peter Spirer, Kennesaw State College, Kennesaw, Georgia.


1994    

Haines Gallery, San Francisco, Calif., White Paintings, 1994.

Margulies Taplin Gallery, Miami, Fla., March 1994.

Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., 1994.

Mindy Oh Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.   

Chassie Post Gallery, New York City, New York; “Plow”, 1994.

1993    

Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange, Calif., Different Strokes, Group Show. 1993.

Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Mich., The Purloined Image, Group Show. 1993.

Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., 1993. solo show

Soma Gallery, Santa Monica, California; 1993.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Okla., 1993.

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kans., 1993.

Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, Calif., Transitional Realities, April 1993.

Berstro-Mahler Museum, Neenah, WI

Haines Gallery, San Francisco, Calif., October 1993.

1992    

Contemporary International Museum of Art, Buford, Ga., 1992. Atlanta Gallery Association.

Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., 1992.

Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif., January 1992.

1991    

Drawings. Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., 1991.

Todd Murphy's HEROIC SUBJECTIVISM, McKissick Museum of Art, Columbia, S.C. University of South Carolina. January 13–February 24, 1991 (exhibition catalogue).

1990

Tampa Museum of Art, 1990.

Fay Gold Gallery, Ga., 1990.

1989     

Janice Hunt Gallery, Chicago, IL.1989         

Spotlight on Georgia Artists Annual Exhibit, Atlanta, Ga.

Trinity Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., December 1989.

1988      

Trinity Gallery, Atlanta, Ga.