ARTS 1001 Spring 2009

Elizabeth Murray is an innovative artist with an exuberant style of expression. Her work is bold and chaotic, with a fascinating inventiveness about it. She is a painter who uses primarily oils on canvas, but occasionally watercolor is found in the mix. She creates a universe that blends, distorts, or twists objects into new shapes and images. Her mutation and deconstruction of objects such as coffee cups or tables, as well as her use of various unexpected colors, are her trademark. Art21 made the statement that Murray’s paintings “breathe life into domestic subject matter.” According to Corinne Robins, “Murray’s paintings tend to move sideways, horizontally across the wall. Their odd outer physical forms become bridges to the painting, to the interior shapes created on them…Murray’s current paintings demand a craning of the neck to see how it is her shapes exist.” The unique work of Elizabeth Murray is captivating and inspirational.
Elizabeth Murray’s work is often anchored by domestic objects such as tables or furniture or, again coffee cups. Her subject matter is often material from her own life, which according to Corinne Robins also makes the work “subversively feminine.” She begins with an object and from there she is very inventive. Murray is quoted in Corinne Robin’s article, describing her art as something that “starts physically, but ends intellectually.” Figures collide, shapes are shattered, skewed forms emerge, and colors are manipulated, creating wonderfully abstract master pieces. Sometimes her focus is to turn an object inside out and see if from a new perspective. The inner world and “what is behind those wall pieces” help to inspire Murray. As a result, Murray helps us see things differently as well.
Elizabeth Murray’s work is a style of its own, but the free spiritedness of it reminds me somewhat of Nan Goldin. Nan Goldin took free spirited pictures and had a distinct style in what she did as well. Although Elizabeth Murray and Nan Goldin use different mediums, both artists have an element of spontaneity in their work. Both artists relate to their audiences, but in different ways. To me Murray’s work seems to instigate the more imagination, while Goldin’s work seems to instigate more emotion. Elizabeth Murray’s work is more open to interpretation and sparks more energy in viewers; while Nan Goldin’s work sparks a deeper range of emotion. Goldin’s work is more personal because the subject matter is her close friends, and scenes from their lives. We can relate to both.
I would definitely recommend an exhibition featuring Elizabeth Murray’s work to friends. I think there is a genuine sense of fun that is sparked from viewing Murray’s work. The art itself looks like it was fun to create, and looking at it is stimulating. I think that exploring Murray’s work would be worth everyone’s time!

SOURCES:

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/murray/index.html

Art in America v. 95 no. 2 (February 2007) p. 148-9 "Elizabeth Murray at PaceWildenstein" by Eleanor Heartney

Woman's Art Journal v. 27 no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006) p. II, 33-6, 67"Elizabeth Murray: Deconstructing Our Interiors" by Corinne Robins