JOHN MURRAY
(b. 1973)

John Murray is a South African painter living and working in Cape Town South Africa. Finding significance in the contrasting states between the tangible and the imperceptible, playfulness and seriousness, Murray moves between representational and nonrepresentational forms.

Working in oil on canvas as well as in collage and bricolage, the images used in his figurative compositions are often interpretations of found objects and photographs. Some of these images have specific cultural, historical or political significance, while others are trivia collected from the artist’s everyday surroundings. These composite images or compositions prompt viewer specific responses and associations, with the juxtaposition of images acting as triggers or catalysts for meaning.

More recently Murray’s work has leaned towards abstraction, not in its purest sense but rendered in a way that still hints at representational forms beneath the surface. These works - originally inspired by the different colours and hues that accumulate on the artist's mixing palette - have evolved into an ongoing series of paintings that allude to structures that are simultaneously in the process of forming and disintegrating.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019
Sum of its Parts - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town

2017
Aftermath - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Johannesburg

2015
Undo All - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town

2014
Southern Guild 2013. Museum of African Design (MOAD), Johannesburg

2013
Ecstatic Entropy - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town

2012
Flotsam&Jetsam, Artspace Gallery, Johannesburg

2005
Africa for Africans, Stevenson, Cape Town

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2015
Joburg Art Fair - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

2013
The Loom of the Land, Stevenson, Johannesburg
Positive Tension - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
Stellenbosch Revisited, Sasol Museum, Stellenbosch
Group exhibition curated by Julia Meintjes, Cavalli Gallery, Somerset West

2012
Making Faces: Exploring Contemporary Practice Through Portraiture, WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
Tjorts!/Cheers!, Association for Visual Arts (AVA), Cape Town

2011
Thinking Around: Mapping Sculpture, Tokara Gallery
Art on Paper - selection of South African art on paper, Casa Labia Gallery, Cape Town
Thami Mnyele Foundation - 20 years, CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam, Holland
Ik ben een Afrikander, Artspace Gallery, Johannesburg
Contemporary South African Painters, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town

2010
99c, Platform on 18th, Pretoria Rose Korber Art Salon, Cape Town

2009
Spaza Sketsboek, Platform on 18th, Pretoria

2005
Art @ Work: A decade and more of the Sasol art collection, Oudtshoorn Arts Festival
South African Art 1840-Now, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town

2016
Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town

2015
Undo All - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
Joburg Art Fair - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

2014
Southern Guild 2013. Museum of African Design (MOAD), Johannesburg

2013
Ecstatic Entropy - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
Stellenbosch Revisited, Sasol Museum, Stellenbosch
Group exhibition curated by Julia Meintjes, Cavalli Gallery, Somerset West
Positive Tension - WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town
The Loom of the Land, Stevenson, Johannesburg

2012
Making Faces: Exploring contemporary practice through Portraiture - Group Exhibition
WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY, Cape Town
‘Tjorts!/Cheers!’ Curated by Marna Hattingh and Liza Grobler, A conversation between acclaimed and award-winning poet Danie Marais and participating visual artists Marna Hattingh, Tina Jensen, Marlise Keith, John Murray and Liza Grobler. Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town

2011
Ik ben een Afrikander | Reviewing the heritage and onus of the Afrikaner, Group Exhibition with Francki Burger, Hannelie Coetzee, Johann du Plessis, Pauline Gutter, Clare Menck,
John Murray, Mea Ox, Henk Serfontein, Cobus van Bosch, Réney Warrington, Artspace, Johannesburg
Contemporary South African Painters - Group Exhibition, Simon Stone, Kate Gottgens, John Murray & Giovanna Biallo, Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town

2010
99c, Drawing group exhibitions at Platform on 18th, Pretoria
Rose Korber Art Salon, Cape Town

2009
paza Sketsboek, Drawing group exhibitions at Platform on 18th, Pretoria

2008 – 2006
Teaching drawing at the University of Stellenbosch for the Visual Communication and Design course and Postgraduate Mphil Illustration course

2005
Art @ Work: A decade and more of the Sasol art collection, Oudtshoorn Arts Festival,
Africa for Africans, Solo Exhibition, Michael Stevenson
South African Art 1840-Now, Group Exhibition, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town

2004
South African Art 1850-Now, Group Exhibition, Michael Stevenson
Rose Korber Art Salon at the Bay, The Bay Hotel, Cape Town
40 years: Artists and designers from the University of Stellenbosch, Salsol Art Museum, Stellenbosch
Uniformed, Solo Exhibition, Michael Stevenson
Identity, Group Exhibition of South African Art, Scheveningen, Fortis Circus Theatre, Holland

2003
Teken, Group Exhibition, Art on Paper, Johannesburg
Rose Korber Art Salon at the Bay, The Bay Hotel, Cape Town
Contact Zones, Group Exhibition, Michael Stevenson, Cape Town

2002
Black & White, Solo Exhibition, AVA, Cape Town
Absa l’Atelier competition finals, Johannesburg
Meanwhile…., Solo Exhibition, Art. B, Bellville
Rose Korber Art Salon at the Bay, The Bay Hotel, Cape Town
Group exhibition, Millennium Gallery, Pretoria
White Horse Group Exhibition, Oudtshoorn Arts Festival

2001
Undercover, Solo Exhibition, Bell-Roberts, Cape Town
Waver Group Exhibition, Oudtshoorn Arts Festival
Group Exhibition of South African work, Mac 21 Art Fair, Marbella, Spain
Exhibition of miniature paintings, Art Association of Bellville, Studio Exhibition

2000
Solo exhibition, AVA, Cape Town
Absolute: Colour Group Exhibition, AVA
Plastic Bag Awareness Campaign, Collaborative Installation, Kirstenbosch
Exhibited and co-curated Emergency Group Exhibition, Bell-Roberts
Container, Rust-en Vrede Gallery, Durbanville

1999
Canvas, Arts Association of Bellville, Cape Town

1998
Kunsdinge, US Gallery, Stellenbosch
US Staff Exhibition, Association for Visual Arts (AVA), Cape Town
Unplugged 3, Market Theatre Gallery, Johannesburg