In Ciarán Murphy’s paintings we encounter an unsettling array of things; sticks, rocks, martian landscapes, insects, interiors, hands, letters, blank screens, architectural feature and geometric shapes. Objects seem in varying states of flux: things float, or seem in the midst of changing form, while other things seem barely there, are entirely absent, or in various states of becoming. They all seem to have in one way or another a vexed relationship to gravity.
Murphy’s paintings can be understood as an effort to grapple with the fact that we live in a world where images are omnipresent, exerting an almost ghostly or spectral presence in our everyday existence. Temporalities are increasingly blurred and our very notions of what constitutes reality is, in itself, a process mediated by images. In some ways the work grapples with the idea of untangling representation from reality or if such an untangling is even possible.
Murphy’s paintings can be understood as an effort to grapple with the fact that we live in a world where images are omnipresent, exerting an almost ghostly or spectral presence in our everyday existence. Temporalities are increasingly blurred and our very notions of what constitutes reality is, in itself, a process mediated by images. In some ways the work grapples with the idea of untangling representation from reality or if such an untangling is even possible.
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Ciarán Murphy received his BA at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin in 2003 and his MA in Visual Arts Practices (MAVIS), IADT, Dublin in 2005. Solo exhibitions include 15 single-word titled paintings at Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE); Ciarán Murphy at GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL); Ciarán Murphy at Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago (US); Ciarán Murphy Cerealart, Philadelphia (US); All That’s Air Melts Into Solid at GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL); The Paradise Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE); A particular nothing GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL). Murphy has participated in group shows at Gallery Massimo Carassi, Milan (IT); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE); the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (IE); and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (IE).
CV
Born 1978 in Mayo (IE)
Lives and works in Dublin (IE)
Education
2005 MA in Visual Arts Practices (MAVIS), IADT, Dublin (IE)
2003 BA National College of Art & Design, Dublin (IE)
Awards and Residencies
2012 Tony O’Malley Studio Residency, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (IE)
2011-2010 Residency at Trinity College, Dublin (IE)
2009 Arts Council Bursary (IE)
2007 Irish Museum of Modern Art, residency and artist work program (IE)
Travel Award, Culture Ireland (IE)
Arts Council Bursary (IE)
2005 Arts Council Travel Award (IE)
Arts Council Bursary (IE)
2003 Cella Muille, Eisenstadt (AT)
2002 Scholarship to the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT (US)
Solo Exhibitions
2018 GRIMM, New York, NY (US)
Plainsight, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
2014 A Particular Nothing, GRIMM Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL)
2013 A Round Now, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, NY (US)
The Paradise, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2011 Equipment, GRIMM Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL)
2010 All That’s Air Melts Into Solid, GRIMM Keizersgracht 82, Amsterdam (NL)
Ciarán Murphy, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2009 March, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE)
2008 Ciarán Murphy, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL (US)
Ciarán Murphy, Cerealart, Philadelphia, PA (US)
2007 Ciarán Murphy, GRIMM Keizersgracht 82, Amsterdam (NL)
2006 15 single-word Titled Paintings, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE)
Group Exhibitions
2018 Pop-up GRIMM, Brussels (BE)
2017 Hennessy Art Fund for IMMA Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (IE)
Soul-Beating, Gorey School of Art, Gorey (IE)
2014 Fieldworks: Animal Habitats in Contemporary Art, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork (IE)
2013 In the line of beauty, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (IE)
2011 Interlude (Aspects of Irish landscape painting), Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Aperture & Anxieties, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (IE)
2010 New Paintings, GRIMM Keizersgracht 82, Amsterdam (NL)
2009 Something Else, Rothe House, Kilkenny, Ireland (IE)
2007 Solo presentation, Mother’s Tankstation at Zoo Art Fair, London (UK)
2006 Ciarán Murphy & Petri Ala-Maunus, Gallery Massimo Carassi, Milan (IT)
Mother’s Ruin – dangerous obsessions and the culture of excess, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE)
2005 Here Comes Everybody, Project, Dublin (IE)
Eurojet Futures Anthology, RHA Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Remote Access, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2004 Eurojet Futures, RHA Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Work in progress, Studio 6, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2003 50/50, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Crawford Open, Crawford Gallery of Art, Cork (IE)
Contemporary European Art, Cella Muille, Eisenstadt (AT)
Flix, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Iontas, Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo (IE)
2001 NCAD Degree Show, Dublin (IE)
RDS Student Award Scheme, Dublin (IE)
Frozen Pipes, Illac Centre, Dublin (IE)
Shoplifter, Illac Centre, Dublin (IE)
2000 Sensationless, Vicar St, Dublin (IE)
1999 National Portrait Award, Dublin (IE)
Selected Collections
Defares Collection, Amsterdam (NL)
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin (IE)
Sanders Collection, Haarlem (NL)
Selected Bibliography
2018 John Gayer, ‘Ciarán Murphy, Plainsight, Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam’, Paper Visual Art, 8 May
Edo DIjksterhuis, ‘Ierse Krachtschilder’, Het Parool, January 19
2017 ‘Mayo artist's work to feature in national collection’, Connaught Telegraph, 15 June
‘Mayo artist chosen for IMMA Collection 2017’, The Mayo News, 14 August
‘What Lies Beneath: Hare by Ciaran Murphy’, Independent Ireland, 14 August
2014 ‘A Round Now’, Taymour Grahne Gallery Publication
2010 ‘Ciarán Murphy’, Douglas Hyde Gallery Publication
Marianne van Dijk, ‘Ciarán Murphy’, Kunstbeeld, June
Kate Butler, ‘Ciaran Murphy', The Sunday Times, 28 March
Aidan Dunne, ‘Finding a way to look anew’, The Irish Times, 10 February
2009 John Gayer, ‘Ciaran Murphy’, March review CIRCA 127
Lucy White, ‘Art Round-Up’, Metro, 19th January
Aidan Dunne, ‘Visual Art: Ciaran Murphy’, The Irish Times, 5 February
2008 James Yood, ‘Ciaran Murphy’, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, Artforum: issue XVLII, No. 2, October
Alan G. Artner, ‘What’s up with this monkey?’, Chicago Tribune, 27 June
Lisa Boyle, ‘Ciaran Murphy at Kavi Gupta Gallery’, badatsports.com, 25 June
2006 Luke Clancy, ‘Ciaran Murphy, mother’s tankstation’, Dublin, ArtReview, issue 6, December
Eimear McKeith, ‘Beautiful, intriguing and haunting’, The Sunday Tribune, 1 October
Billy Leahy, ‘Pictures before profit’, The Village, 14–20 September
2005 Ciara Healy, ‘Eurojet Futures 2004 at the Royal Hibernian Academy’, Circa, Spring
2004 Ruth Carroll, ‘Eurojets Futures 2004’, RHA, Dublin
Lives and works in Dublin (IE)
Education
2005 MA in Visual Arts Practices (MAVIS), IADT, Dublin (IE)
2003 BA National College of Art & Design, Dublin (IE)
Awards and Residencies
2012 Tony O’Malley Studio Residency, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (IE)
2011-2010 Residency at Trinity College, Dublin (IE)
2009 Arts Council Bursary (IE)
2007 Irish Museum of Modern Art, residency and artist work program (IE)
Travel Award, Culture Ireland (IE)
Arts Council Bursary (IE)
2005 Arts Council Travel Award (IE)
Arts Council Bursary (IE)
2003 Cella Muille, Eisenstadt (AT)
2002 Scholarship to the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT (US)
Solo Exhibitions
2018 GRIMM, New York, NY (US)
Plainsight, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
2014 A Particular Nothing, GRIMM Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL)
2013 A Round Now, Taymour Grahne Gallery, New York, NY (US)
The Paradise, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2011 Equipment, GRIMM Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL)
2010 All That’s Air Melts Into Solid, GRIMM Keizersgracht 82, Amsterdam (NL)
Ciarán Murphy, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2009 March, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE)
2008 Ciarán Murphy, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL (US)
Ciarán Murphy, Cerealart, Philadelphia, PA (US)
2007 Ciarán Murphy, GRIMM Keizersgracht 82, Amsterdam (NL)
2006 15 single-word Titled Paintings, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE)
Group Exhibitions
2018 Pop-up GRIMM, Brussels (BE)
2017 Hennessy Art Fund for IMMA Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (IE)
Soul-Beating, Gorey School of Art, Gorey (IE)
2014 Fieldworks: Animal Habitats in Contemporary Art, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork (IE)
2013 In the line of beauty, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (IE)
2011 Interlude (Aspects of Irish landscape painting), Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Aperture & Anxieties, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (IE)
2010 New Paintings, GRIMM Keizersgracht 82, Amsterdam (NL)
2009 Something Else, Rothe House, Kilkenny, Ireland (IE)
2007 Solo presentation, Mother’s Tankstation at Zoo Art Fair, London (UK)
2006 Ciarán Murphy & Petri Ala-Maunus, Gallery Massimo Carassi, Milan (IT)
Mother’s Ruin – dangerous obsessions and the culture of excess, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin (IE)
2005 Here Comes Everybody, Project, Dublin (IE)
Eurojet Futures Anthology, RHA Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Remote Access, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2004 Eurojet Futures, RHA Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Work in progress, Studio 6, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (IE)
2003 50/50, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Crawford Open, Crawford Gallery of Art, Cork (IE)
Contemporary European Art, Cella Muille, Eisenstadt (AT)
Flix, Rubicon Gallery, Dublin (IE)
Iontas, Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo (IE)
2001 NCAD Degree Show, Dublin (IE)
RDS Student Award Scheme, Dublin (IE)
Frozen Pipes, Illac Centre, Dublin (IE)
Shoplifter, Illac Centre, Dublin (IE)
2000 Sensationless, Vicar St, Dublin (IE)
1999 National Portrait Award, Dublin (IE)
Selected Collections
Defares Collection, Amsterdam (NL)
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin (IE)
Sanders Collection, Haarlem (NL)
Selected Bibliography
2018 John Gayer, ‘Ciarán Murphy, Plainsight, Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam’, Paper Visual Art, 8 May
Edo DIjksterhuis, ‘Ierse Krachtschilder’, Het Parool, January 19
2017 ‘Mayo artist's work to feature in national collection’, Connaught Telegraph, 15 June
‘Mayo artist chosen for IMMA Collection 2017’, The Mayo News, 14 August
‘What Lies Beneath: Hare by Ciaran Murphy’, Independent Ireland, 14 August
2014 ‘A Round Now’, Taymour Grahne Gallery Publication
2010 ‘Ciarán Murphy’, Douglas Hyde Gallery Publication
Marianne van Dijk, ‘Ciarán Murphy’, Kunstbeeld, June
Kate Butler, ‘Ciaran Murphy', The Sunday Times, 28 March
Aidan Dunne, ‘Finding a way to look anew’, The Irish Times, 10 February
2009 John Gayer, ‘Ciaran Murphy’, March review CIRCA 127
Lucy White, ‘Art Round-Up’, Metro, 19th January
Aidan Dunne, ‘Visual Art: Ciaran Murphy’, The Irish Times, 5 February
2008 James Yood, ‘Ciaran Murphy’, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, Artforum: issue XVLII, No. 2, October
Alan G. Artner, ‘What’s up with this monkey?’, Chicago Tribune, 27 June
Lisa Boyle, ‘Ciaran Murphy at Kavi Gupta Gallery’, badatsports.com, 25 June
2006 Luke Clancy, ‘Ciaran Murphy, mother’s tankstation’, Dublin, ArtReview, issue 6, December
Eimear McKeith, ‘Beautiful, intriguing and haunting’, The Sunday Tribune, 1 October
Billy Leahy, ‘Pictures before profit’, The Village, 14–20 September
2005 Ciara Healy, ‘Eurojet Futures 2004 at the Royal Hibernian Academy’, Circa, Spring
2004 Ruth Carroll, ‘Eurojets Futures 2004’, RHA, Dublin