John Murphy b. 1945, St Albans, UK
Solo Exhibitions
1971 Serpentine Gallery, London
1972 Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1973 Jack Wendler Gallery, London
1975 "Selected Works", Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1976 "Nature Morte, Collected Works", The New Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, London "An Art of Exchange. Featuring `The Picture Frame' or Egg Note'", Barry Barker Gallery, London
1977 "The Work of Art Is... A.J. J.M.", Barry Barker Gallery, London
1978 Galerie Arno Kohnen, Dusseldorf
1979 "Desire Not Geometry", Barry Barker Gallery, London
1980 "Lesson on Money", Art Projects, Melbourne "Objects of Desire", Piwna, Warsaw
1981 "John Murphy", Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast (exh cat)
1982 "(D)(E)(L)(T)(A)", The Orchard Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland
1983 "The Nocturnal Inscription Represents... ", Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Gent
1984 "Beyond the Fixing of Appearances", Serpentine Gallery, London
1985 "Stuck in the Milky Way", Lisson Gallery, London (exh cat)
1987-88 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (exh cat)
1988 Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (exh cat) "Instruments of Attack", Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris Galeria Marga Paz, Madrid
1989 "Phoenix, Sagitta, Horologium, Reticulum, Libra, Ursa Major", Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles
1990 "Silent Vertigo", Lisson Gallery, London (exh cat) "Inaugural Violence", Christine Burgin and John Weber Galleries, New York (exh cat)
1992 "Remains To Be Seen", Project Room, John Weber Gallery, New York "No Representation, No Intention, No Trace", Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris "The Sense of Resemblance", Lisson Gallery, London "The Tone That Calls the Song", Galerie Bruges la Morte, Bruges
1996 Lisson Gallery, London “A Portrait of the Artist as a Deafman”, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (exh cat) “Navigating in Madness”, Galerie de Luxembourg, Luxembourg (exh cat)
1997 Villa Arson, Nice (exh cat)
1998 “A Different Constellation”, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris “On the Incline of Our Tongue”, Galerie Erna Hécey, Luxembourg
2003 “The Way Up and The Way Down”, Southampton City Art Gallery and Museum, Southampton (exh cat) “Of Voyages”, Galerie Erna Hécey, Luxembourg
2004 ‘Something for the Eye’, The Regency Town House, Hove, Centre of Contemporary Visual Arts, University of Brighton
2004-5 ‘And Things Throw Light of Things’, Ikon Gallery and Barber Institute, Birmingham (exh cat)
2005 ‘…Mirror’, Sleeper, Edinburgh ‘Up or Down it’s All the Same In Gent or Venice.) Het Kabinet, Gent
2006 (Between the Acts) Lisson Gallery, London ‘…the stench of shit…’, Galerie Erna Hecey, Brussels
2007 ‘…the stench of shit…’, MOca Maas at Jan van Eyck Academie, Masstricht
Group Exhibitions
1965 "Young Contemporaries", F.B.A. Galleries, London (exh cat)
1966 "Young Contemporaries", F.B.A. Galleries, London (exh cat)
1968 "Young Contemporaries", Royal Institute Galleries, London (exh cat)
1969 "Younger Generation" (travelled to Washington, Philadelphia, Houston) "Big Paintings for Public Places", Royal Academy of Arts, London
1971 "London Now in Berlin", Akademie der Kunste, Berlin (exh cat)
1972 "[Drawing]", Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (exh cat)
1974 "Tables", Garage Art Limited, London 1975 "Contemporary Art Society Recent Acquisitions", Gulbenkian Hall, Royal College of Art Gallery, London
1976 "Eight British Artists", C A Y C, Buenos Aires
1976-77 "Artists Books" (organized by the Arts Council of Great Britain) (exh cat) (travelled to Brighton University, Sussex; Arnolfini, Bristol; Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Ferins Art Gallery, Hull; Ibis Gallery, Leamington Spa and Turpike Gallery, Leigh)
1978-79 "The Mechanised Image", (organized by the Arts Council of Great Britain) (exh cat) (travelled to Portmouth Museum and Art Gallery; Sheffield Graves Art Gallery; Ferins Art Gallery, Hull; Camden Arts Centre, London; Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen and Ulster Museum, Belfast) "Art: -Museum des Geldes", Stadtische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (exh cat) (travelled to Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris)
1979 "Lang'uages", Third Eye Centre, Glasgow (selected by Rudi H. Fuchs) (organized by The Arts Council of Great Britain) (exh cat) Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle (organized by the Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst) (exh cat) "Europa '79. Kunst der 80er Jahre", IX Internationalen Kunstlerkongresse, Stuttgart (exh cat) "Kunstlerbucher", Galerie Lydia Megert, Bern
1980 "British Art 1940-80", Hayward Gallery, London
1981 "The Second International Drawing Triennale", Wroclaw, Poland (exh cat) "Through the Summer", Lisson Gallery, London
1982 "British Drawing", Hayward Gallery, London (exh cat) "Collazione Inglese", Scuola di San Pasquale, Venice (exh cat)
1984 "Through the Summer", Lisson Gallery, London "Lili Dujourie, John Murphy, Jan Vercruysse", Lisson Gallery, London
1984-85 "The British Art Show: Old Allegiances and New Directions 1979-1984", (organized by The Arts Council of Great Britain) (exh cat) (travelled to City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton)
1985 "L'Indifférent", John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (exh cat) ″Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue", Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (exh cat)
1986 "Falls the Shadow. Recent British and European Art. The Hayward Annual", Hayward Gallery, London (organized by The Arts Council of Great Britain) (exh cat) "Aperto 86", XLII Biennale di Venezia, Venice (exh cat) "Ooghoogte Van Abbemuseum 1936-1986", Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (exh cat) 1987-88 "Quatrièmes Ateliers Internationaux des Pays de la Loire", Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, Fontevraud (exh cat) (travelled to PARC, Nantes; Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Roche-Sur-Yvon; Palais des Congrés, Mans; Palais des Congrés, Saint-Jean-De-Monts; Office Social et Culturel, Château-Gontier) "The Analytical Theatre: New Art from Britain", (organized by Independent Curators Incorporated, New York) (exh cat) (travelled to The Akron Art Museum, Ohio; Alberta College of Art Gallery, Alberta; University Art Museum, California; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia) "Made in London", Jack Shainman Gallery, Washington DC, and New York "Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition", Lisson Gallery, London
1988 "British Art: The Literate Link", Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles (exh cat) "Something Solid", The Cornerhouse, Manchester (exh cat) "Vanitas", Norwich School of Art Gallery, Norwich (exh cat)
1989 "Blasphemies, Ecstasies, Cries", Serpentine Gallery, London (exh cat) "Unstable Universe", Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles
1990 "Four British Artists", John Weber Gallery, New York "Now for the Future. Purchases for the Arts Council Collection since 1984", Hayward Gallery, London "DE PICTURA", Galerie Bruges la morte, Bruges (exh cat)
1991 John Weber Gallery, New York "Les Couleurs de l'argent", Musée de la Poste, Paris, (exh cat) "Rimbaud Centenary Exhibition", Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth
1992 "Les Collections du Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain des Pays de la Loire au Musée des Beaux-arts de Nantes", Musée des Beaux-arts de Nantes "Drawings", Galerie Bruges la Morte, Bruges
1993 "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", Lisson Gallery, London "The Sublime Void, On the Memory of the Imagination", Koninklinjk Museum voor Schone-Kunsten, Antwerp, (exh cat) "New Painting", Chapter, Cardiff "Paintings From the Saatchi Collection", Mead Gallery
1994 "Paula Rego, John Murphy, Avis Newman", Saatchi Gallery, London (exh cat)
1995 “Das Abenteuer Der Malerei”, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen,Düsseldorf andWürttembergischen Kunstverein, Stuttgart (exh cat)
1997 “A Conversation Piece”, with Juliâo Sarmento, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (exh cat)
1998 “A Vendre”, Galerie Erna Hecey, Luxembourg
1999 “Larmes Blanches, Hommage a James Lee Byars”, FRAC Haute Normandie, Sauttevile / Lès Rouen, France
2000 “Aquisitions from the late 90s”, Tate Britain, London Galerie Erna Hecey, Luxembourg “A Shot in the Head”, Lisson Gallery, London 2001 “East Wing Collection No. 05 Looking éWith/Out”, Courtauld Institute of Art, London <
2002 “Stanze del cammino di mezzo”, curated by Rita Selvaggio, Casa Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy “Le Regard de l’Autre. Dialogue entre les collections du Frac-Normandie et du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen”, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, France ‘Cantos’ Casino Luxembourg-Form D’Art Contemporain, Luxembourg 2005 ‘Strange, Familiar and Unforgotten / 2’ Galerie Erna Hécy, Brussels ‘I wish…’ Engholm Engelhorn Galerie, Vienna
2007 ‘Salon Nouveau’, Engholm Engelhorn Galerie, Vienna
Selected Bibliography: Books and Catalogues
1965 Young Contemporaries. F.B.A. Galleries, London (exh cat)
1966 Young Contemporaries. F.B.A. Galleries, London (exh cat)
1968 Young Contemporaries. Royal Institute Galleries, London (exh cat)
1971 London Now in Berlin. Akademie der Kunste, Berlin (exh cat)
1972 [Drawing]. Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (exh cat). Text by Peter Ibsen.
1976 Artists Books. The Arts Council of Great Britain, London (exh cat)
1978 The Mechanised Image. The Arts Council of Great Britain, London (exh cat) Museum des Geldes. Stadtische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (exh cat)
1979 Lang'uages. Arts Council of Great Britain, London (exh cat). Text by Rudi H. Fuchs. Europa '79. Kunst der 80er Jahre. IX Internationalen Kunstlerkongresse, Stuttgart (exh cat)
1981 The Second International Drawing Triennale. Wroclaw, Poland (exh cat) John Murphy. Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast (exh cat)
1982 British Drawing. Hayward Gallery, London (exh cat) Collazione Inglese. Scuola de San Pasquale, Venice (exh cat)
1984 The British Art Show: Old Allegiances and New Directions 1979-1984. The Arts Council of Great Britain, London (exh cat). Text by Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton. Tate Gallery Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions 1980-82. Tate Gallery, London
1985 L'Indifferent. John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (exh cat). Texts by Barry Barker and Lindsay Smith. Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue. Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (exh cat). Text by Waldemar Januszcak. John Murphy. Lisson Gallery, London (exh cat). Texts by Barry Barker and Lynne Cooke. 1986 Falls the Shadow. Recent British and European Art. Hayward Annual. The Arts Council of Great Britain, London (exh cat). Texts by Barry Barker and Jon Thompson. Ooghoogte Van Abbemuseum 1936-1986. Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (exh cat) XLII Biennale di Venezia. Venice (exh cat)
1987 The Analytical Theatre: New Art From Britain. Independent Curators Incorporated, New York (exh cat). Text by Michael Newman. Quatrièmes Ateliers Internationaux des Pays de la Loire. FRAC Pays de la Loire, Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, Fontevraud (exh cat). Text by Lynne Cooke, Chris Dercon and Didier Semin. John Murphy. Whitechapel Art Gallery, London and Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (exh cat). Texts by Michael Newman and Barry Barker.
1988 British Art: The Literate Link. Asher/Faure, Los Angeles (exh cat). Text by Lynne Cooke. Vanitas. Norwich School of Art Gallery, Norwich (exh cat). Text by Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton.
1989 Something Solid. The Cornerhouse, Manchester, (exh cat) Blasphemies, Ecstasies, Cries. Serpentine Gallery, London (exh cat). Texts by Andrew Brighton and Andrea Schlieker. Allistair Hicks. New British Art in the Saatchi Collection, Thames and Hudson, London
1990 John Murphy, Silent Vertigo. Lisson Gallery, London (exh cat) DE PICTURA. Bruges la morte, Brugge (exh cat). Text by Bart Cassiman.
1991 Les Couleurs de l'argent. Musée de la Poste, Paris, (exh cat) John Murphy, Inaugural Violence. Christine Burgin and John Weber Galleries, New York, Text by Barry Barker, (exh cat)
1993 The Sublime Void. Koninklinjk Museum voor Schone-Kunsten, Antwerp, Text by Bart Casseman, (exh cat)
1996 John Murphy, A Portrait of the Artist as a Deaf Man, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Text by John Hutchinson, (exh cat) John Murphy, Navigating in Madness, Galerie de Luxembourg, text by Stella Santacatterina, (exh cat)
1997 John Murphy, Villa Arson, Nice, Text by Michel Assenmaker, (exh cat)
1998 John Murphy and Juliào Sarmento. A Conversation Piece, text by Michael Tarantino (exh cat)
1999 John Murphy, The Way Up And The Way Down, Southhampton City Art Gallery and Museum, Text by Jon Thompson, (exh.)
2004 John Murphy, And things throw light on things Ikon Gallery. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, (no text) (exh cat)
2005 Cantos Casino Luxembourg Forum d’art Contemporain, Luxembourg, Text by Michel Assenmaber (exh cat) 2006 John Murphy, (Between the Acts) Lisson Gallery, London, Text by Michel Assenmaker
Selected Bibliography: Articles and Reviews
1969 Bryan Robertson. "Demure Walls", The Spectator, London, 13 September
1979 Monica Petzal. "John Murphy", Art Monthly, No 24
1979-80 "John Murphy interviewed by Jon Thompson", Aspects, No 9, Winter
1983 "John Murphy. The Noctural Inscription represents...", Kunst Nu, No 4, p.1
1984 Jon Thompson interviewed by John Roberts. "Morality, Postmodernism and the Pursuit of Metaphor, The British Art Show", Artscribe, No 49, pp.17-24 Andrew Brighton. "The British Art Show", Art Monthly, No 82, December
1985 Waldemar Januszcak. "Poetry Lies in the Eye of the Beholder", The Guardian, London, 5 February Clare Henry. "L'Indifferent", Arts Review, March Waldemar Januszcak. "John Murphy", The Guardian, London, 14 December
1986 Richard Cork. "Shadow Play", The Listener, London, 17 April Lynne Cooke. "Impresa", Flash Art, No 130, November, pp.62-64
1986-87 Arielle Pelenc. "Les Ateliers de Fontevraud", Galeries Magazine, No 20, August September
1987 Didier Semin. "John Murphy", Quatriemes Ateliers Internationaux des Pays de la Loire, pp.60-61 "Three London Artists at Shainman", The Washington Post, Washington, 21 Nov Florence Rubenfeld, "Notes on the British and American Scene: Milena Kalinovska", Museum & Arts Washington, November/December Alice Thorsen, "British art evinces turn toward poetic", The Washington Times, 3 December
1987-88 Lynne Cooke. "John Murphy", Galeries Magazine, No 22, Dec - Jan, pp.81-83
1988 William Feaver. "Star Signs", The Observer, London, 24 January Stacey Jones. "British Art: Three Washington Exhibits", Washington Art Reporter, Washington, January Cathy Curtis. "The Footfalls of Deconstruction", Artweek, 20 February JW Mahoney. "John Murphy, Shirazeh Houshiary, Lisa Milroy", New Art Examiner, Washington, February Joan Bakewell. "Bakewell's View", Sunday Times, 7 February Tricha Passes. "John Murphy and David Austen", Venue Magazine, 17 March Ken Rowat. "John Murphy", The Guardian, London, 21 March Jon B. Thompson. "John Murphy", Art Monthly, No 115, April, p.13 Michael Newman. "John Murphy's Astral Sublime", Artscribe International, No 69, May, pp.55-57 Michael Newman. "John Murphy. Emblemes du désir et de l'absence", Art Press, No 128, September pp.36-37 Judith Higgins, "Working in London", ARTnews, October Virginia Whiles Serreau. "John Murphy", Beaux Arts Magazine, No 62, Nov Jose Ramon Danvila. "John Murphy: pintura, metafora y tratamiento", El Punto, 25 November - 1 December Fernando Hiuci. "John Murphy: El aura de la pintura", El Pais, Madrid, 26 November Jose Manuel Costa. "Tras la Nada, la Belleza", ABC de las Artes, Madrid,1Dec, p.18
1988 Vicente Carreton Cano. "La Oferta Inglesa", Casa Vogue Espana, No 0, November Merle Schipper. "British Art in the 80s: Innovation Abounding", UK/LA. A Celebration of British Arts, Los Angeles (special edition)
1989 Suvan Geer. "John Murphy", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 3 March Christopher Knight. "Unstable Universe", Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Los Angeles, 23 June Suvan Geer. "Unstable Universe", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 23 June Lynne Cooke. "British Art In The Eighties. Diversity and contradictions of the past decade", The Journal of Art, vol 2, No 2, November
1990 Sarah Kent. "John Murphy. Lisson", Time Out, London, 18-25 April Jeff Instone. "The Ass's Plain Song", Journal of Art and Crafts, vol 3, No 2, June- August, p.34 Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton. "John Murphy. Lisson Gallery", Artforum, Summer
1991 Dirk Pültau. "De Pictura. Bruges la morte", Artscribe, March-April, pp.79-80 Richard Kalina. "John Murphy at John Weber and Christine Burgin", Art in America, April, p.162 Tony Godfrey. "A British Painting for the '90s", Art in America, April, pp.145-154, 181, 183 Gretchen Faust. "John Murphy at Christine Burgin and John Weber", Arts Magazine, April, pp.99-100
1992 "Murphy", Libération, 6 February "John Murphy", Le Monde, 13 February Manuel Jover. "John Murphy", Beaux Arts, February, pp.85-87 Mary Rose Beaumont. "Subject-Object-Subject", Galleries, London, April Adrian Searle. "John Murphy, Lisson Gallery", Time Out, London, April Geraldine Norman. The Independent, London, 27 April Stella Santacatterina. "John Murphy, Galerie Yvon Lambert", Tema Celeste, April/May, p.105 Stella Santacatterina. "John Murphy", Art Monthly, London, June, pp.20-21 "London Notes", CV, Vol.5/92 Daniele Pieroni, "L'occhio cosmografico", Next Arte &Cultura, No 27 Inverno, pp.44-46
1994 Paula Rego, John Murphy, Avis Newman, Saatchi Collection, London (exh cat) Richard Dorment, "Her Majesty's Pleasure", The Daily Telegraph, 2 November Sara Kent, "Hits and Myths", Time Out, London, 16-23 Nov, p.47
1995 Reinhard Ermen, “Das Abenteur der Malerei”, Kunstforum, No.131, Germany, August-October, pp.352-354 Barbara Hess, “Das Abenteur der Malerei (The Adventure of Painting)”, Flash Art International, No.184, Milan, October, p.50 1996 Martin Coomer, “Diamond dogs”, Time Out, London, 15 May, p.47 Andrew Wilson, “John Murphy. Lisson Gallery”, Art Monthly,No.197,June, pp.24- 25 Brian Fallon, “John Murphy. Douglas Hyde Gallery”, Irish Times, 29 October Lucien Kayser, “Une peinture cynique, navigating in madness”, d’Letzeburger Land, Luxemburg, 27 December Joseph Paul Schneider, “Les interrogations Métaphysiques de John Murphy”, Luxemburger Wort, 31 December
1998 Tony Godfrey, “John Murphy, Julião Sarmento - MOMA Oxford”, Untitled, No.17, London, Autumn, p.22 Adrian Searle, “What’s it all about”, The Guardian John Billingham, “Conversation Piece”, The Oxford Time, 17 July David Green, “A Conversation Piece: John Murphy - Juliáo Sarmento”, Contemporary Visual Arts, issue 20, pp. 22-23 Regina von Plenta, “John Murphy und Juliáo Sarmento im museum of Modern Art Oxford”, Kunst-Bulletin, p.37 Jane de Burgh, “The art of conversation. A Conversation Piece”, The Lancet, vol. 352, no. 9125, 1 August Mina Mehta, “John Murphy - Juliáo Sarmento. A Conversation Piece. Museum of Modern Art, Oxford”, Art Monthly, September, pp. 36-38 Ina Mottrot, “John Murphy in der Galerie Ema Hécey’, Luxemburg Wort, 24 December
1999 Lucien Kayser, “Invitation à la dance d’initiation”, d’Letzeburger Land, Luxembourg, 1 January Adrian Searle, “Tale of the Mermaid”, The Guardian - Visual Arts, London, 6 July 1999 Elisabeth Vermart, “On the Incline of our Tongue, John Murphy Towandlangen”, Journal, no.11, Luxembourg, 16/17 January
2003 Stephane Roussel, ‘L’entre-deux et l’ailleurs’, d’Land, April 2003, Nr 15 Luxembourg
2005 Marin Herbert, ‘John Murph, Ikon Gallery/Barber Institute of Fine Arts’, Art Monthly, February 05, N. 283 Isabelle de Visscher Lemaitre ‘ Cantos’ Dominiek Hoens, ‘John Murphy, And things throw light on things, De Witte RAAF, July – August 2005.