“Ultimately, what distinguishes Murphy from most of his American contemporaries is his commitment to the human- not the American—condition”

— Bradford R Collins, 1991, McKissisk Museum

Art World
The Work of Todd Murphy
By Joseph Perrin, Southern Homes, 1989 — Art World The Work of Todd Murphy By Joseph Perrin, Southern Homes, 1989

Cullum, Jerry. Bennett Street Shows Varied "Visions' and "Images,' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Section C, January 18, 1991, p.10.

Day, Jeffrey. Murphy Art Hot, Won't Burn Out, The State, Columbia, SC, February 3, 1991

***TODD_MURPHY_1-1_Jinkner-Lloyd, Amy. Todd Murphy At Lowe, Art In America, NYC, Volume 79, No. 6, June 1991, pp. 154-55.JPG

Jinkner-Lloyd, Amy. Todd Murphy At Lowe, Art In America, NYC, Volume 79, No. 6, June 1991, pp. 154-55

Sanders, Luann. Creative Loafing, Roll Models, Volume 1, January 12, 1991, pp. 19-20

1991 Todd Murphy Art Triton museum art review.JPG

_1992 TODD MURPHY ART THINK BIG ATLANTA ARTIST SPEAKS VOLUMED IN FEW WORKS BY JEFFERY DAY.JPG

1992_Fox, Catherine. More Style Than Substance, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 4, 1992, Section F, p.2.jpg

2_ARTIST wrtier Todd Murphy Beverly Rayner Alexis Smith Mystery by Salli McQuaid_1993_Triton_Artistwriter_McQuaid.jpg

3_ARTIST wrtier Todd Murphy Beverly Rayner Alexis Smith Mystery by Salli McQuaid_1993_Triton_Artistwriter_McQuaid.jpg

ARTIST wrtier Todd Murphy Beverly Rayner Alexis Smith Mystery by Salli McQuaid_1993_Triton_Artistwriter_McQuaid.jpg

Sherman, Ann Elliott. Reality in Flux, Metro, February 1993 .jpg

Smith, Dean. Paintography: Todd Murphy at Haines Gallery, Visions, Winter 1994..jpg

Art Sleight of the Artistic Hand Todd Murphy_1994_Sunward_GayChicagoMagazine_issue38.JPG

1994 TODD MURPHY NEW ART, NEW SEASON _Sunward_GayChicagoMagazine_issue37 copy.JPG

TODD MURPHY POST-POE MODERNISM MINDY OH GALLERY_1994_Swartz_The-Reader (1)..jpg

A WORLD APART Todd Murphy's %22The New World%22 by donal Locke_1995 Fay Gold.JPG

Todd_Murphy_Poets Artists & Madmen_July_1995__001.jpg

1997 Kingdom, Phylum, class, species, genus, family, radio Todd Murphy.JPG

TODD MURPHY Images that speak for themselves by Brennna_Sanchez_RobertKidd..jpg

Todd_Murphy_SouthernMagazine_September_1989__001 (1).jpg

Scroll through the reviews below and click on title to access the full review
"Art is not about the right color on the right surface; it's about synthesizing one's experience."

Todd Murphy, 1989
Murphy's paintings, although frequently tragic, are not pessimistic. They convey what Spinoza would call a "mature" sense of reality. The 17th century philosopher advised a life without the comforting illusions of conventional society. Men and women can only be truly free, he insisted, if they face both their own limitations and the purposeless nature of the universe.

Bradford R. Collins
Todd Murphy's Heroic Subjectivism
McKissick Museum Catalog, Columbia, SC, January 13, 1991

1989

"The Art of Todd Murphy," Southern Homes. 1989 — 1989 "The Art of Todd Murphy," Southern Homes. 1989

An Artist Confronts his Heroes
By Catherine Fox June 1990 — An Artist Confronts his Heroes By Catherine Fox June 1990

Murphy Art Hot, Won't Burn Out, The State, by Jeffrey Day, Columbia, SC, February 3, 1991

THE ARTS ART REVIEW LUANNE SANDERS ROLL MODELS January 1991

Todd Murphy: 1993 Todd Murphy Art Triton museum art review, San Jose Mercury News by Catherine Maclay

Think Big, The State, Columbia, SC, Section F, By Jeffrey Day, January 6, 1991, pp.1,4.

Fox, Catherine. More Style Than Substance, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 4, 1992, Section F, p.2

McQuaid, Salli. Todd Murphy, Beverly Rayner, Alexis Smith, Artist Writer, March 1993, pp. 1,2,6.

Sherman, Ann Elliott. Reality in Flux, Metro, February 1993

Smith, Dean. Paintography: Todd Murphy at Haines Gallery, Visions, Winter 1994.

Sunward, Justin H. Sleight of the Artistic Hand, Gay Chicago Magazine, September 22- October 2, 1994, p. 4 7.

Sunward, Justin H. New Season, New Art, Gay Chicago Magazine, September 15-25, 1994, p. 39.

Swartz, Mark. Post-Poe Modernism, Chicago READER, September 23, 1994, Section I, pp. 33-34.

Coppola, Vincent. Go West, Young Man, Atlanta Magazine, July 1992

Mowry, Lisa. Todd's World, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, September 1994.

A WORLD APART Todd Murphy's "The New World" by Donald Locke_1995 Fay Gold Gallery

Hofmann, Regan. Todd Murphy, Poets, Artists § Madmen, July 1995.

Fox, Catherine. Murphy’s Show of Imagination, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 26, 1997

TODD MURPHY Images that speak for themselves by Brenna Sanchez

“What differentiates Murphy’s views on the complexity of human thought and behavior from those of his Postmodern contemporaries, such as Salle or Borofsky, is the thematic integrity of his works. "

—Bradford R. Collins
Todd Murphy's Heroic Subjectivism
McKissick Museum Catalog, Columbia, SC, January 13, 1991
Murphy prefers what is now called the "canon": Spinoza, Emer- son, de Beauvoir, Beckett and the like. One of the playwrights he most enjoys is Sam Sheppard, whose head is featured in another diptych, I Decline (1989). Sheppard's face appears both intense and troubled. Above the furrowed brow and down-cast gaze is a black mass of wildly tangled hair. Playing over this brooding double portrait, on both the actual painting and the plexiglass sheathing, is a fury of indecipherable messages drawn from various texts. Only the Russian word for freedom and the artist's name, both in reverse, can be read. Our inability to understand the writing, to make sense of what is so urgently communicated seems crucial to the work's meaning.

Bradford R. Collins
Todd Murphy's Heroic Subjectivism
McKissick Museum Catalog, Columbia, SC, January 13, 1991

Mona, Mona, 1990
114 x 156 inches — Mona, Mona, 1990 114 x 156 inches

(Detail) I Decline, 1988
Diptych (120" x 120") featuring the playwright Sam Sheppard — (Detail) I Decline, 1988 Diptych (120" x 120") featuring the playwright Sam Sheppard

(Detail) The Vanity of Human Wishes, 1989 referencing the eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson.

The Vanity of Human Wishes, 1989 8 ' x 16'
the eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson. — The Vanity of Human Wishes, 1989 8 ' x 16' the eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson.

The Vanity of Human Wishes, 1989 96 x 192 inches 8 x 16 foot

(Detail) Three Compositions in Black and White 1989 Triptych, each panel measuring 90 x 56 inches

(Detail) Three Compositions in Black and White triptych each panel measuring 90 x 56 inches

Untitled (Salieri), 1988 The painting portrays Mozart's competitor, Salieri, who was consumed with jealousy over Mozart's gift of music.

(Detail) Cross Roads, 1990
triptych each panel measures 120 x 120 inches (10 x 10 foot)
Three of these monumental figures are featured. — (Detail) Cross Roads, 1990 triptych each panel measures 120 x 120 inches (10 x 10 foot) Three of these monumental figures are featured.

(Detail) Cross Roads, 1990
120 x 120 inches (each panel)
(Triptych each panel measures 10 x 10 foot)
Three of these monumental figures are featured. — (Detail) Cross Roads, 1990 120 x 120 inches (each panel) (Triptych each panel measures 10 x 10 foot) Three of these monumental figures are featured.

Male Torso , 1988
75 x 306 x 4 inches — Male Torso , 1988 75 x 306 x 4 inches

(Detail) Male Torso , 1988
75 x 306 x 4 inches — (Detail) Male Torso , 1988 75 x 306 x 4 inches

Reconstructed, 1991,
75 x 100 in. — Reconstructed, 1991, 75 x 100 in.

"Untitled", 1990
18 x 19 in. — "Untitled", 1990 18 x 19 in.

Untitled, 1990
16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm) — Untitled, 1990 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Untitled, 1990
37 x 50 inches — Untitled, 1990 37 x 50 inches

Untitled (Penelope), 1990
120 x 72 in. — Untitled (Penelope), 1990 120 x 72 in.

Untitled, 1990
120 x 72 in. — Untitled, 1990 120 x 72 in.

Gridded Monument Man, 1990
84 x 216 x 10 inches
The painting features a pair of dead bodies, whose diagonal arrangement is meant to suggest that they are just two of many. — Gridded Monument Man, 1990 84 x 216 x 10 inches The painting features a pair of dead bodies, whose diagonal arrangement is meant to suggest that they are just two of many.

The words may simply be notes to himself or they may be from any source that is available if the message seems cogent. They may even be written in Russian.

Joseph Perrin, The Art World/ The Work of Todd Murphy, 1989
Joseph Perrin (1923 - 2014) Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,
A structural element that is virtually always included in Murphy's paintings is "writing," which he uses to symbolize his thoughts about the human condition and art.

Joseph Perrin, The Art World/ The Work of Todd Murphy, 1989
Joseph Samuel Perrin (1923 - 2014) Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,
Among the words that may appear on some of his canvases is "ARNT”. This play on the contraction "aren't," he explains, "is for me a negation of what art has become."

Joseph Perrin, The Art World/ The Work of Todd Murphy
Joseph Samuel Perrin (1923 - 2014) Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,
Once the writing has been introduced onto the painting's surface, it is invariably obscured or woven into the fabric of the large pictorial idea.

Joseph Perrin, The Art World of Todd Murphy, 1989
Joseph Perrin (1923 - 2014) Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,
Yet the informal calligraphy seems to further support and identify with the single figure in a context that feels as primordial as the drawings on the walls of the ancient caves and, at the same time, as sophisticated and timely as a billboard.

Joseph Samuel Perrin, 1923 - 2014 Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,
The informal calligraphy seems to further support and identify with the single figure in a context that feels

Joseph Samuel Perrin, 1923 - 2014 Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,
as primordial as the drawings on the walls of the ancient caves and, at the same time, as sophisticated and timely as a billboard.

Joseph Samuel Perrin, 1923 - 2014 Professor Emeritus, and the founder and former Chairman of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University,

This artifice plays off, but never negates, the images, which, it turns out, are sources in a whole different artificial means: photography.

— TODD MURPHY: PICTURES AND VARIATIONS BY PETER FRANK
In optical terms Murphy effects this spatial conundrum through a combination of traditional, even anachronistic method and technique that is nothing if not contemporary.

— TODD MURPHY: PICTURES AND VARIATIONS BY PETER FRANK

In an uncharacteristic move, Murphy also offers scaled-clown sketches on wood that he calls "shrouds."

Prima Vera, 1990 The artist is a skilled draftsman Who clearly understands the human form such a grasp of the anatomy would say God's forte, and it makes sense that Murphy would draw inspiration from the French impressionist, tender dancers.

Becoming Then , 1990, 80 x 108 in. For this powerful series of paintings and sketches, Murphy posed antique dress-forms on rollers found in junk stores around town. - Luann Sanders, 1991

Todd Murphy maneuvers in this little room, however, and maneuvers with great and increasing skill. Indeed, in Murphy's hands, that little room becomes enormous, almost limitless---without growing any bigger.

— TODD MURPHY: PICTURES AND VARIATIONS BY PETER FRANK
Murphy paints with oils -and with tar, and, in a sense with plexiglass, all enhanced with such extra- painter devices as Phillips-head screws and wood dowels.

— TODD MURPHY: PICTURES AND VARIATIONS BY PETER FRANK
He does not render his images with these media, but creates with them both the pervading illusive atmosphere, with its inference of recessional space, and the elements which admit and even emphasize the artifice of the entire picture. This artifice plays off, but never negates, the images, which, it turns out, are sources in a whole different artificial means: photography.

— TODD MURPHY: PICTURES AND VARIATIONS BY PETER FRANK
In optical terms Murphy effects this spatial conundrum through a combination of traditional, even anachronistic method and technique that is nothing if not contemporary.

— TODD MURPHY: PICTURES AND VARIATIONS BY PETER FRANK

Prima Vera, 1990
132 x 156 inches
The artist is a skilled draftsman Who clearly understands the human form such a grasp of the anatomy would say God's forte, and it makes sense that Murphy would draw inspiration from the French impressionist, tende

Femmes of Red Clay Poetry
144 x 180 inches
The artist Todd Murphy sitting in front of his work, painting

Shroud 1, 1990
54 x 54 inches
In an uncharacteristic move, Murphy also offers scaled-clown sketches on wood that he calls "shrouds."

Shroud 2 , 1990
67 x 43 inches
In an uncharacteristic move, Murphy also offers scaled-clown sketches on wood that he calls "shrouds."

Untitled, 1990 Photo collage of Dress From

Becoming Then , 1990
80 x 108 inches
For this powerful series of paintings and sketches, Murphy posed antique dress-forms on rollers found in junk stores around town. - Luann Sanders, 1991

“I've gone from three-dimensional sculpture to two dimensional photography to drawing and painting,” explains Murphy. “I'm dealing with changes. All the mediums keep changing and that's intriguing to me.”

Todd Murphy
ROLL MODELS, by Luann Sanders, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991
The texture reflects Murphy's uncanny sense of style while the figures are further evidence that this artist is a skilled draftsman who clearly understands the human form.

Luann Sanders
ROLL MODELS, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991
Such a grasp of the anatomy was Degas forte and it makes sense that Murphy would draw inspiration from the French impressionist's tender dancers.

Luann Sanders
ROLL MODELS, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991
The assemblage is true to Murphy form, mixed media on plexi, wood and canvas, but the refined female figures and use of rich,. sumptuous colors is a departure from the painter's brooding male literary subjects of the past. He also experiments with photography applying various photos to the image to create a highly sophisticated collage effect.

Luann Sanders
ROLL MODELS, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991
The texture reflects Murphy's uncanny sense of style while the figures are further evidence that this artist is a skilled draftsman who clearly understands the human form. Such a grasp of the anatomy was Degas forte and it makes sense that Murphy would draw inspiration from the French impressionist's tender dancers.

Luann Sanders
ROLL MODELS, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991
Murphy succeeds in achieving the same effect in works such as The Femmes of Red Clay Poetry. The three forms are as rigid and erect as the dress forms he posed to paint them but the heavy skirts of a crude cloth wrapped around the figures add texture and life. The alluring 12-foot by 15-foot painting is just one of nearly two dozen studies presented in the Lowe exhibit. In an uncharacteristic move, Murphy also offers scaled-clown sketches on wood that he calls "shrouds."

Luann Sanders
ROLL MODELS, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991
"This is what started it all," says Murphy, pointing to a picture of the Degas bronze sculpture of a young ballerina. Degas cast the prepubescent dancer in bronze then adorned her with real fabrics such as a tutu of pink gauze and a ribbon of pink satin in her sculpted hair. The bronze is perfection, the fabric is human and the combination of the two is ingenious.

Luann Sanders
ROLL MODELS, Creative Loafing, January 12, 1991

The underlined Museums link to a page for that exhibition

McKissisk Museum 1991

Triton Museum and Visions of the 21st Century

Link to McKissick Museum exhibited works

“Ultimately, what distinguishes Murphy from most of his American contemporaries is his commitment to the human- not the American—condition”

Scroll through the reviews below and click on title to access the full review

"Art is not about the right color on the right surface; it's about synthesizing one's experience."

“What differentiates Murphy’s views on the complexity of human thought and behavior from those of his Postmodern contemporaries, such as Salle or Borofsky, is the thematic integrity of his works. "

The words may simply be notes to himself or they may be from any source that is available if the message seems cogent. They may even be written in Russian.

A structural element that is virtually always included in Murphy's paintings is "writing," which he uses to symbolize his thoughts about the human condition and art.

Among the words that may appear on some of his canvases is "ARNT”. This play on the contraction "aren't," he explains, "is for me a negation of what art has become."

Once the writing has been introduced onto the painting's surface, it is invariably obscured or woven into the fabric of the large pictorial idea.

Yet the informal calligraphy seems to further support and identify with the single figure in a context that feels as primordial as the drawings on the walls of the ancient caves and, at the same time, as sophisticated and timely as a billboard.

The informal calligraphy seems to further support and identify with the single figure in a context that feels

as primordial as the drawings on the walls of the ancient caves and, at the same time, as sophisticated and timely as a billboard.

This artifice plays off, but never negates, the images, which, it turns out, are sources in a whole different artificial means: photography.

In optical terms Murphy effects this spatial conundrum through a combination of traditional, even anachronistic method and technique that is nothing if not contemporary.

Todd Murphy maneuvers in this little room, however, and maneuvers with great and increasing skill. Indeed, in Murphy's hands, that little room becomes enormous, almost limitless---without growing any bigger.

Murphy paints with oils -and with tar, and, in a sense with plexiglass, all enhanced with such extra- painter devices as Phillips-head screws and wood dowels.

In optical terms Murphy effects this spatial conundrum through a combination of traditional, even anachronistic method and technique that is nothing if not contemporary.

“I've gone from three-dimensional sculpture to two dimensional photography to drawing and painting,” explains Murphy. “I'm dealing with changes. All the mediums keep changing and that's intriguing to me.”

The texture reflects Murphy's uncanny sense of style while the figures are further evidence that this artist is a skilled draftsman who clearly understands the human form.

Such a grasp of the anatomy was Degas forte and it makes sense that Murphy would draw inspiration from the French impressionist's tender dancers.

TODD MURPHY (1962-2020)