01 Sep Michael Murphy
September 1 – 25, 2020
Preview: Friday, September 4th, 6-9PM
Opening Reception: Sunday, September 6th, 3-6PM
Michael Murphy, the son of a contractor who studied at the College of San Mateo before attending the University of New Mexico, where he earned his architectural degree, starts by sketching structures in pencil. The sketches eventually become drawings that evolve into striking Supersonic Modern paintings with vibrant colors on either canvas or heavy illustration board, which helped to land the artist’s work in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
A recession and layoff from an architectural firm led Murphy to make the jump from architecture to art. It started simply enough – a house in Presidio Heights caught his eye, and he created a rough drawing that eventually led to a series of drawings he posted on Facebook. His architect friends loved his work and that gave him the confidence to explore even more buildings.
Eventually, he started selling his work at local retailers and galleries. By 2010, Murphy stopped looking for employment as an architect and started concentrating on his art, working out of a studio in his home that he shares with his architect wife in the Outer Richmond District of San Francisco.
His Forgotten Modernism series, an ongoing catalog of modern architecture, tries to bring attention not just to the obvious masterpieces of 20th Century California but also to the middle class dwellings that helped define the spirit of California Dreaming that punctuated the post-war landscape of the inner city and suburbs on the west coast.
“I tried to highlight background buildings that are maybe forgotten buildings lost in the landscape,” says Murphy, 49. “I try to bring them out a bit and make people notice them more.”
The series started when Murphy returned to San Francisco in 2008 after spending six years in London and four years in Dublin soaking up European culture and architecture. Murphy believes his time abroad allows him to look at the modern architecture of California and the Bay Area with fresh eyes. The bold colors he uses in his work let him “strip out part of the building and look at it differently, to add another layer of understanding of what’s happening,” he says. The simplicity of modern architecture, Murphy notes, can make it deceptively difficult to do right.
“I compare it to an Armani suit,” he says. “It’s a lot harder to make things look simple. You can’t just cover up the mistakes.”
Murphy’s latest paintings encompass historic mid-century Los Angeles buildings, including John Lautner’s Chemosphere (now owned by publishing magnate Benedikt Taschen), Welton Becket’s Capitol Records Building, and Armét & Davis’ iconic googie masterpiece, Johnies Coffee Shop on Wilshire. He’s even localized the work to include a classic dingbat on Via Cortez in Pasadena, where this current body of work will exhibit at Gallery 30 South–itself an iconic ivy-walled treasure of early mid-century Lloyd-Wrightness.
Call or email the gallery to be placed on the preview list or to discuss payment and delivery options. (323)547-3227 info@gallery30south.com