John Murray classes week of June 11, 2012

Last week of the term! Please bring any work for crit.

John murray classes week of June 4, 2012

I'm in DC and just saw the Ai Weiwei fountain at the Hirshorn. Great piece, inspired by the Qing Dynasty zodiac clock (Garden of Perfect Brightness) royal retreat near Beijing, that was destroyed in 1860. Strange and strong piece. How do you feel about the post-modern idea of co-option of  images?

Do a piece about this idea either pro or con. see you next week. john

John Murray classes week of May 28, 2012

I noticed the work of Aaron Curry at Micheal Werner in New York and found what I saw online to be tough and compelling. The references to cartoons and postmodern comics, cave art and freewheeling visual connections looked very creative and smart. If you have a chance take a look online and see what you think. He uses the photos of the walls of his studio and sets cutout Calderish shapes and paint-smattered image in front of them. Nice feel to what I can see. 

For your own work this week try a justaposition of studio spatters and markings against shapes and drawings, perhaps what you drew from the stilllife of last week or the model from the week before. Combine and elaborate your personal viewpoint into a dense insistence on yourself. See you next week, john. 

John Murray classes week of May 21, 2012

The idea of working from a still life setup is alien to me and too easy on the artist in my opinion, but I have been asked by an artist in my DeCordova  class to do so. I will bring a few odd pieces to arrange in each class and you can use the setup or work from your mind, (a dangerous place). See you next week, john.

john Murray classes week of May 14, 2012

DeCordova class will have a model. Please bring a new canvas or surface on which to work.

NewArt Center, please work further from drawings and marks you developed last week with the model. Deconstruct, collage drawings, transfer or otherwise push the image of the figure. see you next week, john.  

John Murray classes week of May 7, 2012

NewArt Center classes have a model in every class next week.

Thank you NewArt Center artists for my surprise birthday party, card and generous $!

I was overwhelmed and very appreciative. Thank you Karen!

DeCordova artists keep working on your ouvre and current visual-psycho-obsessions.

On may 12 ( a week from Saturday I'm bringing a group to the ICA for a tour and irreverent look at the contents of that bastion of bourgeois-postmodern-plasticity. Call the office at NewArtcenter to signup and join the fun. see you next week. john. 

John Murray classes week of April 30, 2012

There is a show of Frank Stella's early work (straight out'a Princeton!), what a child of privledge this artist was. He is, however, supremely talented and powerfully original.  

Go on line or take a look at the NYTimes WeekendArts  section (Fri. April 27) and see what Roberta Smith has to say about this work. I love his Moby Dick series from the 1990's and his lectures from 1988 at Harvard published as "Working Space are excellent reading for a painter.

Next week consider a mininal work, perhaps your initial in stripes in some fashion, or a combination of stripes and image. See you next week john.