JOHN
MURRAYJohn Murray was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1952. He was awarded his Painting Diploma from the National Art School and Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education in 1974.
John exhibited at Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, in the "Young Painters Exhibition" and the "Art of the Real" in 1975. The Alexander Mackie College Exhibition at the Sydney Opera House in 1975 and the Macquarie Galleries " Young Painters", 1976.
From 1978 to 1981 John traveled extensively through India and lived and worked in Europe and England. In 1983 he left Sydney and travelled to Lightning Ridge, at this stage John had made the commitment of pursuing his painting on a full time basis.
John spent his early years in Lightning Ridge involving himself in community
projects including teaching painting and silkscreen printing at the CYSS Centre
in Walgett and painting murals in Lightning Ridge. He built a studio and worked
on paintings portraying the landscapes and lifestyle of the Opal Fields.
Between 1986 and 1989 he held three solo exhibitions in Lightning Ridge, collaborating with local musician and sound technician Karl Lawrie. These "shows" had a theatrical approach to draw away from the static experience of just viewing paintings in a gallery. The combination of lighting effects, music and paintings was more three dimensional and enabled the audience to participate.
In 1988 John traveled around the Northern Territory sketching and formulating ideas and returned in 1989 to stage the exhibition "Rock to the Top" at the Darwin Performing Arts Centre. Once again he collaborated with Karl Lawrie and a film crew accompanied them to produce a documentary on the journey and exhibition for the ABC.
John and Karl continued to experiment and develop this approach to audio visual exhibitions with "Lunartickle" in 1990 and "Chasing Rainbows" in 1991. Both of these exhibitions drew on the opal mining experience and showed John's ability to combine humour and candor with photo realistic impressions of the surroundings.
In 1991 John spent four months living in the Torres Strait Islands with his partner, some of that time was spent painting on an uninhabited island. A collection of watercolor and acrylics saw another side to his work, this time a lot softer in colour yet still retaining that unmistakable Murray wit.
On returning to Lightning Ridge the John Murray Art Gallery was opened along
with a range of Limited Edition Prints of popular works. People now had access
to the art of John Murray and he soon earned the reputation of the Artist of
the Opal Fields. As his work became linked with the Opal Industry several large
commissions followed.
Large works can be viewed at Harlequin Gems in the Queen Victoria
Building Sydney. Bentine Gems Level 1-60 Pitt St Sydney, and Gemtec 51 Pitt
St Sydney NSW, another large eight piece panel hangs at 39 Barrack St Perth,
the W.A. offices of Gemtec. Opal dealers in Japan, Germany and America have
purchased work to display in showrooms and offices.
Some examples of these large works can be viewed in the "Murals
Gallery".
In 1993, looking for new inspiration, John traveled to and explored the "corner country" where the states of NSW, QLD and SA meet. This red earth country, which includes the famous dingo fence and the Cooper Creek, so impressed John with its harsh and beauty and rich history he began painting a collection of large canvasses.
This culminated in the exhibition " Way Out West' at the Dubbo Regional Gallery in 1994. The response was such that he produced three Limited Edition prints and a calendar featuring the major works from the exhibition.
He continued to paint works featuring the outback desert landscapes and rural life, and two more exhibitions followed. "Backabuggary" at the Promenade Centre, Coffs Harbour in 1995, and "Beyond the Gate" at the Bourke Riverside Gallery in 1996.
John's love and fascination with outback Australia led him on a journey through Central Queensland, the Kimberly and across to the pearling town of Broome, WA in 1996. Several weeks were spent painting watercolor / acrylics on paper whilst in Broome before travelling back to Lightning Ridge via the Tanami Desert and Central Australia. The exhibition " It's a Bloody Big Beach" was held at his own gallery in September 1996, depicting the transition from desert to ocean.
For most of 2000 John has
been painting in collaboration with indigenous Artist Doris Gibson. The Annual
Heritage Art Awards opened a new category this year for indigenous and non-indigenous
Artists to work collaboratively and produce a work for the "Reconciliation"
award.
Doris is from the Kuku-Yalangi people in Mossman, Daintree, Qld. She paints in sand and ochre using traditional designs handed down by the elders. Her work has been exhibited at Kimberley Galleries in Melbourne, Victoria and the National Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Darling Harbour, Sydney.
Her traditional designs in sand and ochre blend beautifully with John's realism in acrylic. They produced several paintings before selecting their entry and plan to exhibit sometime in 2001. For a taste of their work, see the "collaborative work" gallery.
John Murray is currently painting towards an exhibition he is planning for 2002, which will be the official Year of the Outback. Seeing as the Ridge and the surrounding rural areas have a rich history, he is preparing a collection of works representing this"outback history".
| Contact
Us - Home - Our Links
- News - About the Artist
- Choose a Gallery |
| 2009 Calendar |
| Galleries |
| Commissions & Murals |
| Originals |
| Posters - Greeting
Cards |
| Medium Mounted Prints - Small
Mounted Prints |
| Collaborative Work |
|
|
|
