Action painter.
Exhibitions
CREATURES OF LIGHT - London, September 2024.
IN FLOW with John Constable - The Arc Winchester.
https://www.arcwinchester.org.uk/event/james-murray
Palais des Vaches gallery - New Forest.
https://mailchi.mp/8108e5fa449f/whats-on-this-weekend-at-palais-des-vaches-15843249
Aubergine art gallery - London.
https://www.aubergineart.co.uk/exhibitions/35/overview/
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."
