For all his expansiveness and breadth of spirit, Murphy’s vision was deeply interiorized.

PETER FRANK, Los Angeles 2022,
TODD MURPHY: BREADTH OF A POET
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery
He had to coax it constantly out of its shadowy, even sepulchral mode. It is that darkness and quietude that establishes the dimmed and localized light pervading his imagery, a kind of Old Master – specifically Caravaggesque – commingling of murk and brilliance.

PETER FRANK, Los Angeles 2022,
TODD MURPHY: BREADTH OF A POET
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery
When Murphy left the South and moved to New York, his work only gained in such intensity, taken over by an intimacy and poignancy that previously had only beckoned from backstage.

PETER FRANK, Los Angeles 2022,
TODD MURPHY: BREADTH OF A POET
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery
As it revealed itself in Murphy’s work, the human condition became a state not (just) of social and humanitarian passion, but of contemplation and abstraction – abstract attitude and abstract form. In his photography in particular Murphy allowed himself purely compositional play, embedding his passion in texture, form, and a muted but viscerally affecting palette

PETER FRANK, Los Angeles 2022,
TODD MURPHY: BREADTH OF A POET
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery

the “Wink” series re-ennobles both beast and man, paying homage to Jimmy Winkfield, one of several African American jockeys who rode – and won – at the Kentucky Derby and other prominent races, here and abroad, at the turn of the last century. In the “Wink” images Murphy invariably depicted Winkfield with horse, effecting a twinning of dignities.

Peter Frank, Los Angeles, 2022
The Breadth of a Poet
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery
In the “Wink” images Murphy invariably depicted Winkfield with horse, effecting a twinning of dignities

PETER FRANK, Los Angeles, 2022
TODD MURPHY: BREADTH OF A POET
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery

Murphy’s positioning of Winkfield on the horse in this context among a bevy of onlookers makes them a kind of dynamic duo. In a way, the rider and horse together constitute a particular kind of “work horse,” and the work they accomplish together is a performance of graceful locomotion, a public display of talent, and ultimately an elevation of status for themselves.

Seph Rodney
No More Races to Run, 2022
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery
The horse raises the Jockey’s status, and at the same time the jockey enables the horse to become legend. This dynamic dualism is fascinating in Murphy’s work, particularly because the rider and horse considered as a team rarely occur in the art historical genealogy.

Seph Rodney
No More Races to Run, 2022
Catalog essay Johnson Lowe Gallery

For all his expansiveness and breadth of spirit, Murphy’s vision was deeply interiorized.

He had to coax it constantly out of its shadowy, even sepulchral mode. It is that darkness and quietude that establishes the dimmed and localized light pervading his imagery, a kind of Old Master – specifically Caravaggesque – commingling of murk and brilliance.