Todd Murphy

Todd Murphy

“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. 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.” ——-Carrie Prizabella (High Museum 2000)

Engagement with History and Memory is a recurring theme in Murphy's work. His use of materials that already have a history. The use of the natural history museum aesthetic emphasizes the historical lens and critiques the way certain narratives have been "displayed" and perpetuated. Murphy's method of using blown-up photographs behind painted glass, and how the image blurs upon closer inspection, could be seen as a comment on how looking too closely at categorizations can obscure the true nature of what is being categorized.

About his work in general, Prizzebella notes that “there's a romantic quality, which is what makes it so easy to like. Because it's not confrontational, you can impose whatever you want as a viewer. (And) the sculptures and drawings have a directness. you get a sense of a person involved in the making of this thing. there isn't a pretension. it doesn't have to have flash or flare. ——Carrie Prizzebella 2007