Art at the Edge: Todd Murphy High Museum of Art 2000

The figure in Sally Hemings, 1999 (no. 6), holds a small falcon whose crest feathers and hood resemble his mistress's plumed hat and heavy veil. Ultimately, she is interchangeable with the boy or any of Murphy's other recurring characters. Each carries a mysterious history, imperfectly but longingly remembered. Although their deepest desires are inexorably thwarted they manage to endure in poignant solitude never triumphant but always undefeated. CARRIE PRZYBELLA- High Museum, 2000

The figure of the boy recurs in many guises in the sculptures and drawings. Always small and forlorn. He is everyman, stalwartly braving life's vicissitudes, his gaze fixed on some unforeseen future. Untitled, 1995

Sally Hemings, 1999 Ultimately, she is interchangeable with the boy or any of Murphy's other recurring characters. Each carries a mysterious history, imperfectly but longingly remembered. Although their deepest desires are inexorably thwarted they manage to endure in poignant solitude never triumphant but always undefeated. CARRIE PRZYBELLA

Cameras, film projectors and piano rolls serve as metaphors for memory. Film Boy, 1998, with a reel above each ear and film running through his brain evokes the desire to capture and replay the past. Murphy's sculpture has a sense of longing that suffuses his entire ouevre.

Murphy's approach to sculpture is: "I manipulate something until it becomes something else." Yet he also recognizes that the materials he uses influence the development of his works.

Murphy's drawings often incorporate found materials such as scraps of fabric (no 11) or the paper from an old player piano roll (no. 16). An ardent scavenger. Murphy packs his studio with a dizzying array of objects culled from flea markets, junkyards and the detritus of everyday life. Dirty, threadbare, rusted and decrepit his materials implv an unknown history that carries a hint of mystery.

Murphy's sculpture has a sense of longing that suffuses his entire oeuvre. - CARRIE PRZYBELLA

The passage of time and the desire to remember play a central role in Murphy's work. The deliberate age his materials supply is frequently underscored by images related to capturing and preserving fleeting moments.

Despite the crude execution of some of his drawings, his hand can also be quite lyrical as demonstrated by the voluptuous counterbalancing of curves in Untitled, 1999 (no. 8).

Although he frequently represents Sally Hemings in recent (2000) work. she remains anonymous. He does not show her face. preferring to render her as veiled (no. 6) or occasionally headless (no. 5), an embodiment of the enigmatic wistfulness that has long characterized Murphv's work

Cameras, film projectors and piano rolls serve as metaphors for memory. Film Boy, 1998, with a reel above each ear and film running through his brain evokes the desire to capture and replay the past

Carrie Przybilla
organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge
Although he frequently represents Sally Hemings in recent (2000) work. She remains anonymous. He does not show her face. preferring to render her as veiled (no. 6) or occasionally headless (no. 5), an embodiment of the enigmatic wistfulness that has long characterized Murphy's work

Carrie Przybilla
organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge
Murphy's drawings often incorporate found materials such as scraps of fabric (no 11) or the paper from an old player piano roll (no. 16). An ardent scavenger. Murphy packs his studio with a dizzying array of objects culled from flea markets, junkyards and the detritus of everyday life.

Carrie Przybilla
Carrie Przybilla organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge
The figure of the boy recurs in many guises in the sculptures and drawings. Always small and forlorn. He is everyman, stalwartly braving life's vicissitudes, his gaze fixed on some unforeseen future. Boy looks East, cover 1995

Carrie Przybilla
organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge
Dirty, threadbare, rusted and decrepit his materials imply an unknown history that carries a hint of mystery.

Carrie Przybilla
organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge
Murphy's sculpture has a sense of longing that suffuses his entire ouevre.

Carrie Przybilla
organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge
Each carries a mysterious history, imperfectly but longingly remembered. Although their deepest desires are inexorably thwarted they manage to endure in poignant solitude never triumphant but always undefeated.

Carrie Przybilla
Carrie Przybilla organizing curator TODD MURPHY Art at the Edge

Todd Murphy has earned a reputation for monumental, theatrical and enigmatic photo-based paintings. But, judging from this show at the High Museum of Art and his last Atlanta gallery show two years ago, Murphy's most compelling work is his more intimately scaled sculpture.

Catherine Fox
"Art at the Edge: Todd Murphy" The verdict: Haunting.

Catherine Fox
In the eight recent figural sculptures on view, all but one less than 3 feet tall, the Atlanta native reveals a talent for assemblage and an acute sensitivity to materials. He fashions figures using old busts, African sculpture and chunks of charred wood. He adorns them with feathers and film reels. He clothes these doll- size pieces in tattered muslin, encrusts them with salt, stands them on peeling bases.

Catherine Fox
These worn materials evoke the theme that organizing curator Carrie Przybilla sees as central to Murphy's work: "the passage of time and the desire to remember."

Catherine Fox

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Art at the Edge: Todd Murphy" The verdict: Haunting.

Art at the Edge: Todd Murphy High Museum of Art 2000

Cameras, film projectors and piano rolls serve as metaphors for memory. Film Boy, 1998, with a reel above each ear and film running through his brain evokes the desire to capture and replay the past

Although he frequently represents Sally Hemings in recent (2000) work. She remains anonymous. He does not show her face. preferring to render her as veiled (no. 6) or occasionally headless (no. 5), an embodiment of the enigmatic wistfulness that has long characterized Murphy's work

Murphy's drawings often incorporate found materials such as scraps of fabric (no 11) or the paper from an old player piano roll (no. 16). An ardent scavenger. Murphy packs his studio with a dizzying array of objects culled from flea markets, junkyards and the detritus of everyday life.

The figure of the boy recurs in many guises in the sculptures and drawings. Always small and forlorn. He is everyman, stalwartly braving life's vicissitudes, his gaze fixed on some unforeseen future. Boy looks East, cover 1995

Dirty, threadbare, rusted and decrepit his materials imply an unknown history that carries a hint of mystery.

Murphy's sculpture has a sense of longing that suffuses his entire ouevre.

Each carries a mysterious history, imperfectly but longingly remembered. Although their deepest desires are inexorably thwarted they manage to endure in poignant solitude never triumphant but always undefeated.

Todd Murphy has earned a reputation for monumental, theatrical and enigmatic photo-based paintings. But, judging from this show at the High Museum of Art and his last Atlanta gallery show two years ago, Murphy's most compelling work is his more intimately scaled sculpture.

"Art at the Edge: Todd Murphy" The verdict: Haunting.

These worn materials evoke the theme that organizing curator Carrie Przybilla sees as central to Murphy's work: "the passage of time and the desire to remember."

TODD MURPHY (1962-2020)