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Jim Murray
Jim Murray

Action painter.

Exhibitions

CREATURES OF LIGHT
Royal Watercolour Society gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. November 7-10th 2024.

Watch SHORT FILM in contact tab.

..So we stood, alive in the river of light
Among the creatures of light, creatures of light.
That Morning by Ted Hughes 1983.


Like Ted, actor Jim Murray (Masters of the Air, The Crown) shares a deep connection to The River, and the world that dwells beneath it’s mythic plane. This is largely down to how it played a major role in helping him work through the grief and trauma of losing his first daughter EJ to congenital heart disease 15 years ago.

For that alone, he says he owes our rivers everything.

As a conservationist and passionate fly fisherman Jim founded Activist Anglers in a bid to harness the collective voice of anglers, and along with the likes of Feargal Sharkey is considered a leading figure in the fight for our rivers.

As an artist Jim first came to prominence in 2023 with his acclaimed inaugural exhibition In Flow, where his impressive action paintings were hung with, and as a reaction to John Constable’s The Dark side.

——————————————————————

His highly anticipated upcoming series Creatures of light perfectly forges his conservation work with his unique artistic abilities, culminating in a highly conceptual project which is in direct collaboration with the river herself.

The How - Jim has sunk abstract painted canvases (each one unique to its river, and using natural pigments) in targeted Atlantic salmon rivers across England, Scotland and Wales during the salmon’s spawning season, allowing the river to shape and colour the work however she chooses before the canvas is retrieved a few months later. Using mixed media Jim then subtlety imposes various messages upon the canvas to help the river in question get her narrative across.

The What - there will be a collection of works consisting of 8 sets of paintings corresponding to the rivers The Dee, The Spey, The Tay, The Deveron, The Wye, The Test, The Itchen as well as a secret river in the outer Hebrides (due to its rare and unique healthy salmon stock).
Each set will then be cut into ‘shoals’ - six framed squares (40cm) in order to loosely represent a shoal of fish, culminating in approx 50 works.

The Why - the aim is for the finished pieces to bring as much awareness as possible to the plight of the UK’s ‘black rhino’ - the recently endangered wild Atlantic salmon, and also the current challenges our rivers face in general through this deeply original artistic partnership with nature.


There will also be a professional short film (to run online and in conjunction with a London exhibition this autumn) documenting Jim’s unique process, and we hope it will include incredibly rare footage of a submerged canvas or two flowing in the current…engulfed by a shoal of wild salmon! The soundtrack is kindly supplied by the Nick Drake estate and produced by Jim’s brother-in-law the acclaimed musician John Parish.

The pieces will initially be on sale as complete sets of 6, and then as triptychs so that collectors can own their own slice of river, and a percentage of all proceeds will go to conservation charities The Atlantic salmon trust and Fishlegal.

Headline sponsor of the exhibition is Bremont, followed by Chivas Regal.


IN FLOW with John Constable - The Arc Winchester. Summer 2023.
Palais des Vaches gallery - New Forest.
Autumn 2023.

James Murray is an actor, action painter and river conservationist from Manchester who now lives in Hampshire.
His recent works are fresh from his highly acclaimed solo exhibition 'In Flow' which opened this spring at The Arc Winchester and was a direct response to John Constable's work 'The Dark Side' in the main gallery.
Murray draws huge inspiration from the rivers and oceans he is fiercely passionate about, and as such his paintings are full of drama, energy and movement.
To be in a state of 'flow' in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter', is where Murray believes all artists, performers, athletes etc strive to be. Painting offers him an elastic mental space where time becomes so stretched and distorted that it no longer matters.
'Action' painting or 'gestural abstraction' is a focus on the physical act of painting itself, and for Murray, is as vital to the piece as the finished image. He describes the process - with its constant movement, where the image can change so wildly and dramatically minute to minute - as wholly compelling and utterly absorbing.
"It's as if the painting is in charge and you the painter is challenged with keeping up with it as it dictates both pace and direction, and this deeply mesmeric process is what keeps me in flow for hours on end. Knowing when to call it, to put the brush down, walk away and reluctantly decide the painting is 'finished' is the hardest part. Painting keeps me present, gives me a sense of achievement and above all brings great joy."

Action painter. Exhibitions CREATURES OF LIGHT Royal Watercolour Society gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. November 7-10th 2024. Watch SHORT FILM in contact tab. ..So we stood, alive in the river of light Among the creatures of light, creatures of light. That Morning by Ted Hughes 1983. Like Ted, actor Jim Murray (Masters of the Air, The Crown) shares a deep connection to The River, and the world that dwells beneath it’s mythic plane. This is largely down to how it played a major role in helping him work through the grief and trauma of losing his first daughter EJ to congenital heart disease 15 years ago. For that alone, he says he owes our rivers everything. As a conservationist and passionate fly fisherman Jim founded Activist Anglers in a bid to harness the collective voice of anglers, and along with the likes of Feargal Sharkey is considered a leading figure in the fight for our rivers. As an artist Jim first came to prominence in 2023 with his acclaimed inaugural exhibition In Flow, where his impressive action paintings were hung with, and as a reaction to John Constable’s The Dark side. —————————————————————— His highly anticipated upcoming series Creatures of light perfectly forges his conservation work with his unique artistic abilities, culminating in a highly conceptual project which is in direct collaboration with the river herself. The How - Jim has sunk abstract painted canvases (each one unique to its river, and using natural pigments) in targeted Atlantic salmon rivers across England, Scotland and Wales during the salmon’s spawning season, allowing the river to shape and colour the work however she chooses before the canvas is retrieved a few months later. Using mixed media Jim then subtlety imposes various messages upon the canvas to help the river in question get her narrative across. The What - there will be a collection of works consisting of 8 sets of paintings corresponding to the rivers The Dee, The Spey, The Tay, The Deveron, The Wye, The Test, The Itchen as well as a secret river in the outer Hebrides (due to its rare and unique healthy salmon stock). Each set will then be cut into ‘shoals’ - six framed squares (40cm) in order to loosely represent a shoal of fish, culminating in approx 50 works. The Why - the aim is for the finished pieces to bring as much awareness as possible to the plight of the UK’s ‘black rhino’ - the recently endangered wild Atlantic salmon, and also the current challenges our rivers face in general through this deeply original artistic partnership with nature. There will also be a professional short film (to run online and in conjunction with a London exhibition this autumn) documenting Jim’s unique process, and we hope it will include incredibly rare footage of a submerged canvas or two flowing in the current…engulfed by a shoal of wild salmon! The soundtrack is kindly supplied by the Nick Drake estate and produced by Jim’s brother-in-law the acclaimed musician John Parish. The pieces will initially be on sale as complete sets of 6, and then as triptychs so that collectors can own their own slice of river, and a percentage of all proceeds will go to conservation charities The Atlantic salmon trust and Fishlegal. Headline sponsor of the exhibition is Bremont, followed by Chivas Regal. IN FLOW with John Constable - The Arc Winchester. Summer 2023. Palais des Vaches gallery - New Forest. Autumn 2023. James Murray is an actor, action painter and river conservationist from Manchester who now lives in Hampshire. His recent works are fresh from his highly acclaimed solo exhibition 'In Flow' which opened this spring at The Arc Winchester and was a direct response to John Constable's work 'The Dark Side' in the main gallery. Murray draws huge inspiration from the rivers and oceans he is fiercely passionate about, and as such his paintings are full of drama, energy and movement. To be in a state of 'flow' in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter', is where Murray believes all artists, performers, athletes etc strive to be. Painting offers him an elastic mental space where time becomes so stretched and distorted that it no longer matters. 'Action' painting or 'gestural abstraction' is a focus on the physical act of painting itself, and for Murray, is as vital to the piece as the finished image. He describes the process - with its constant movement, where the image can change so wildly and dramatically minute to minute - as wholly compelling and utterly absorbing. "It's as if the painting is in charge and you the painter is challenged with keeping up with it as it dictates both pace and direction, and this deeply mesmeric process is what keeps me in flow for hours on end. Knowing when to call it, to put the brush down, walk away and reluctantly decide the painting is 'finished' is the hardest part. Painting keeps me present, gives me a sense of achievement and above all brings great joy."