John Murray classes week of Feb. 27, 2011

The iconic female.
Here are 4 versions of the artist's response to the female figure. The first is a blockprint from a model I did a few years ago, the second a 1000 year old Aztec textile showing the birth and death cycle of female nature, below and to the left a recent John Chamberlain sculpture in foam and lastly a painting from a model I did last year.

All 4 represent a degree of cultural and personal bias and as such are open to interpretation and criticism both feminist and artistic. The DeCordova class on tuesday has a model next week and offers a unique opportunity to deal with your version of these issues. The model is 7 months pregnant. Newart Center classes had a model the week of Feb. 13. Take a moment and check the John Chamberlain retrospective, "Choices", that just opened at The Guggenheim Museum and runs through May 13. See you next week, john.

No John Murray classes week of Feb.20, 2012

New Museum Triennal.
With the deCordova Biennial happening here in the New England area, take time to see what the New York and International set are doing.
nytimes.com/design.

Also on the week off from class give some thought to how you approach your canvas/ground and think a little about alternative ways to address the potential space that your surface offers you. I like this Sam Francis painting from 1970 and the way it deals with spacial concept....just think about it. See you the week of the 27th, john

John Murray classes week of Feb. 13, 2012

All NewArt Center classes will have a model next week.
DeCordova artists please continue with on-going work, you will have a model on the 28th of Feb. See you next week, john.

John Murray classes week of Feb. 6, 2012

RIGHT BRAIN LEFT HAND.

I,ve always been fascinated by work that originates from the unconscious and finds a way to plastic representation.

All modern artists play with the edge between intention and the automatic/accidental. Even the exquisitally designed work of Matisse shows some of this unconscious

gesture and unintentional application of pigment. The tension between these impulses can result in strong work. I've posted a painting I did last week as a demonstration using acrylic mediums and charcoal and finished in oil paint. I gave no thought to the direction and use of material in terms of image until the final oil paint where I edited and pulled an image from the puddles and marks. I find it more expressive than work I drive from more intentional process. This week try a piece using your right brain and your left hand and see what happens.

See you next week, John.

John Murray classes week of Jan. 30, 2012

Nam June Paik's "Requiem for the 20th Century" is my favorite piece at the deCordova sculpture park in Lincoln.

Last week before my class I wandered up and enjoyed the piece again. Nam June Paik was the father of modern video art, and the piece merges art, music and technology in a poignant way for me.

The 1936 Chrysler painted flat silver seems a ghost of a lost era, while also evoking the modernist design and hubris of the 1930's. Hitler's relentless march to power and inhumanity as well as the world-wide economic depression seem to be embodied in the form of the car. Mozart's unfinished and final work "Requiem Mass in D Minor" quietly plays from the cars stripped interior as a modern dance performance shows through the partially blocked windows.

If you have a chance go to the deCordova and see if the piece affects you as it did me. Or find another work of art (sculptural) to use as muse for a painting or assemblage.

See you next week, john.

John murray classes week of Jan. 23, 2012

This week lets try a self portrait.

After a few weeks of thinking black and white and gray try a personal self image either in color with attachments or a 3-d paper-mache mask-like version with or without color.

I've posted an intaglio Jasper Johns face with an attached watch and a paper mache sculptural form by the European sculptor, Vincent Fecteau.

Push the limits of representation whichever medium you chose. If you try the paper-mache please bring a small bag of flour, a small box to work around and newspapers.

Remember all artistic images of power are eccentric and self-absorbed and personal. It's your Universe! see you next week, john.

Supercharged painting Jan. 17 and 18, 2012

Tuesday deCordova and wed. New Art Center.

There is no class mon. the 16th (MLK national holiday).

Keeping with the black, white and gray concept consider Whister's painting of his mother that he called "Composition in Black and Gray"and the beautiful use of flesh tone in the face and hands as the only use of warm color.

This 1871 masterpiece shows how dramatic limited color use can be. Cy Twombly also uses limited color in most of his (but not all) of his work. The old Bauhaus saw "All emphasis is no emphasis" really holds true in this instance.

This week try a more figurative black, white and shades of gray painting using a small amount of color as a focal center. See you next week, john.