Closing Reception for Christus Murphy Exhibition || Casa de la Noche

CLOSING RECEPTION FOR
CHRISTUS MURPHY’S EXHIBITION
“FLESH & VEGETATION”

Saturday, April 13
5:00 pm

Bordello Gallery

By Kenley Beecher

Please join us on Saturday, April 13^th from 5:00 -7:00 P.M. at the Bordello Galeria of Casa de la Noche, Organos 19, for the closing reception of Christus Murphy’s exhibition, ‘Flesh & Vegetation’.  This exhibition includes oil paintings of figures, landscapes an florals that represent work that he has painted since 2000.

Boston artist, Christus Murphy, has been painting since he was very young boy, his talents having been recognized before he was eight years old.  As a young man he studied at Massachusetts College of Art where he was introduced to the Boston art scene by his professor, Laurence Kuperman.   In Boston he exhibited at the Carl Siembab Gallery before traveling to Italy where he painted for a year, then traveled to the Canary Islands where he had a sell-out show.  Returning to the USA in his late 20’s, he went through a period of artistic frustration during which he burned most of his work and spent the next 17 years as one of Boston’s top illustrators.  In 1976, he left the advertising world and returned to painting which he has been doing six days a week ever since.

In 1995, Christus was welcomed into the vibrant art scene of Richmond, Virginia by former San Miguel resident, Martha Mabey who at that time was owner of the Martha Mabey Gallery.  “It is impossible to be in the presence of paintings by Christus Murphy without having an emotional reaction,” Mabey says. “Vitality and appreciation of life permeate each of his paintings. In his hand, oil paint becomes alive. It flows. It moves. It curves, swishes and dances.”

The Artist’s View: “When I was very young, I decided that if I chose to be a painter, I would not paint to please people but would try as hard as I could to create something of artistic value.  My opinion is that I have followed that decision quite well and what I can say, at this point in my life, is that my paintings are honest. The great bonus for me is that these honest paintings have generated such strong emotional feelings in so many viewers and clients. This show has been one where I have received many bonuses and I feel good about it.”

Murphy says about his work, “I try, in my work, to generate such feelings as the loneliness we experience when the vibrancy and magic of life is shut out, the frustration and turmoil we feel when our needs and desires are in conflict, the terror we know when we are confronted by our own mortality – or just the feelings that we have when we look at what is before us and get that rush.”
The Bordello Galeria is located in the public rooms of
Casa de la Noche, San Miguel’s historic House of the Night.
Organos #19,  ½ block off Hernandez Macias in Centro.

Light refreshments will be served.