Martin Murphy works in a wide range of media, including video, photography, audio, and installation. In many of his videos and video installations, such as Split Mirror Syndrome, TV-Vacations,
Meridians, and Russian Halls, Murphy examines social and philosophical systems of thought, particularly those involving the deconstruction of classical logic. Underlying these works is a psychological context,
through which complex narratives incorporate the fragmentation of seemingly real scenarios. Often disorientating, they invite viewers to suspend their waking consciousness while creating new networks of meaning.
Works such as Today's Face and Film Spill have a more immediate visual impact. In the video Today's Face, someone pours paint over Murphy's head, the top of which is in frame.
The paint has been green screened out so that the silhouette of its form is filled with found footage, an amalgam of news and movie clips. The mess of the world pours over Murphy's head,
obscuring it. He leans his head back, in ecstasy or acceptance.
In Film Spill, a person (offscreen) uses a syringe to inject paint on the white background. As in Today's Face, Murphy uses green scene to cancel out the paint, overlaying appropriated clips from various sources.
With each squirt a new clip gets added to the pool of paint on screen, and the sounds from each accumulate, becoming cacophonous.
Murphy received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and his MFA from Hunter College. His work has been exhibited internationally in venues such as the De La Cruz Collection (Miami, FL),
Steinek Gallery (Vienna), Art In General (New York, NY), The Last Day of Magic at the 53rd Venice Biennial (Detournement, Venice, Italy), and the HBC Center (Berlin, Germany). His solo exhibition
Don't Forget to Crash was at Dorsch Gallery in March 2010. He has shown with Dorsch Gallery since 2008.
Martin Murphy lives and works in New York, NY.
|
