Gwynn Murrill
In over three decades as a sculptor, Gwynn Murrill has created remarkable animal figures that are both timeless and contemporary. Initially working in wood and marble, the artist has since moved on to bronze as her primary medium of choice, but what remains consistent is her talent for portraying the essence of her subject in a form that is simultaneously abstract and figurative. Says Murrill: "It is a challenge to try and take the form that nature makes so well and to derive my own interpretation of it."
Paring away everything that is not absolutely necessary to perceive the creatures in all their purity, details such as eyes, individual coloring, and the texture of fur and feathers are sacrificed in order to leave us with their raw "animal-ness" and primal essence. There is no doubt about the animal portrayed. Calling to mind Classical and Egyptian antiquity, Murrill's signature bronze works are fluid in line and form, smooth, elegant, inviting to that forbidden touch and instilled with vitality and a sense of being--either caught in a moment of serenity and self-possession or brimming with the potential to pounce at any moment.
Born in Michigan and raised in Southern California, Murrill received her BFA and MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles. Since her first solo show in 1972, Murrill has participated in 36 solo shows and more than 50 group exhibitions. Currently, through 2011, her Five Tigers are on display at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ in association with the International Sculpture Center. Over her career, she has received many accolades: a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Prix di Roma Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, and a Purchase Award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2009, Murrill was honored with the Public Art Network’s “Year in Review Award” for her public sculpture and relief commission at The Montana in Pasadena, CA. Her work is held by many private collections and can be seen in a number of public commissions throughout the U.S. and across the globe, including the American Embassy in Singapore; the City of Obihiro, Japan; Target Corporation Headquarters in Minneapolis; the San Francisco Zoo; the Portland Museum of Art, ME; and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA.
Solo Exhibitions thru 1990
2010
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2009
Maquettes, LA Louver, Venice, CA
Early Wood Sculpture, Santa Monica College, Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Selected Cats, Chris Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA
2007
Primal Form: The Sculpture of Gwynn Murrill, The Fresno Museum, Fresno, CA
Cats, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Birds, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
From Classical to Baroque, LA Louver, Venice, CA
2006
Recent Sculpture in Bronze, Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
2005
LA Louver, Skyroom, Venice, CA
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2004
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2003
New Work, LA Louver, Venice, CA
2002
Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, CA
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2001
Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
2000
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe. NM
1999
Dennis Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID ‘
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998
Sculptures in Bronze, Joan Washburn, New York, NY
1997
Gail Severn Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1996
Gail Severn Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
1995
Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
1994
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1993
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1992
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1991
Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1990
Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Rutgars Barclay Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Selected Group Exhibitions thru 1990
2010
Kink, Koplin Del Rio, Culver City, CA
Malibu Sculpture 2010, Curated by Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Malibu, CA
Intimate to Monumental - Contemporary Sculpture, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
5 Tigers on exhibition through 2011, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
2009
LA Louver, Venice, CA
2008
LA Louver, Venice, CA
California in New York, Curated by Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Hubert Gallery, New York, NY
Endangered Species, Santa Monica College, Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Defining the West; Two Hundred Years of American Imagery, Gerald Peters Gallery-Dallas, Dallas, TX
2007
day and night, LA Louver, Venice, CA
The Left Coast, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA
Multiple Vantage Points: Southern California Women Artists 1980-2006, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Carl Schlosberg Exhibitions Inc., Beverly Hills, CA
2006
Going Ape: Confronting Animals in Contemporary Art, 5 Tigers on extended exhibition through 2009, The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
The ADAA Art Show 2006, Joan Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, The Contemporary Museum at The First Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, HI
Carl Schlosberg Exhibitions Inc., Beverly Hills, CA
Gwynn Murrill-Sculpture & Wayne Shimabukuro-Photography, California State University Los Angeles, Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005
LA Louver, Venice, CA
Carl Schlosberg Exhibitions Inc., Malibu, CA
Wilder: A Tribute to the Nicholas Wilder Gallery Los Angeles, 1965-1979, Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
2004
Sculpture, LA Louver, Venice, CA
Free Associations, ARTS Manhattan, Manhattan Beach, CA
2002
Animal Instincts, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Cerritos Art Gallery, Norwalk, CA
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Beverly Hills, CA
2001
LA Louver Gallery, Venice, CA
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
2000
Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY
1999
Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA
Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
Portraiture: Front, back & in-between, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
1998
LA Louver Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1997
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
Bugs, Beasts, Birds and Creatures of The Water, Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1995
Margaret Woodson Fisher Sculpture Gallery Dedication, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
1994
Wildlife, California Center for the Arts Center, Escondido, CA
26 Artists, Freisen Gallery, Seattle, WA
The Art Cup (organized by Betty Asher), Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1993
Menagerie, O’Malveny & Meyers, Los Angeles, and Hines Partnership, San Francisco, CA
Inadvertently, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Malibu International Sculpture Exhibition, Malibu, CA
Zooid, Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, NV
1992
Mind and Beast: Contemporary Artist and the Animal Kingdom, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
1991
Individual Realities, Saison Museum of Art, Tokyo, Tsukashin Hall, Osaka, Japan
American Birdhouse, San Francisco International Airport
Esprit Sculpture Garden, San Francisco, CA
1990
Outdoor Sculpture, Esprit Sculpture Garden, San Francisco, CA