James McMurray: Faces and Paces

Exhibition Website

Feb 9 2018 - Jun 10 2018

A skilled painter who works primarily in oil on canvas, McMurray is capable of layering glaze over subtle brushwork to achieve photographic illusions. He can also portray the essence of his subject en plein air, using rapid brushstrokes to carve form and capture a sense of changing light.

These paintings tell a story of home and of passing time. Here is the station wagon with the wood panels, the young couple before they had children, the studio window, memories of walks in the woods and trips to the beach. There are portraits of friends who have passed on, trees that have fallen, and buildings that remain the same. The landscapes are as lovingly rendered as the people: the cucumber tree out the window, the maple that was only a sapling when they first arrived, the red poppies that Bee planted long ago.

Every year around his birthday, McMurray makes a self-portrait. This annual reckoning records time passing in a variety of art media. Colors and fashions change, beards come and go, the ritual abides. In the age of the selfie, these portraits seem familiar, yet their language is an older dialect. They reveal the thoughtful, questioning gaze of a man facing the deepening lines and graying hair of another year. Rather than stating “I am here,” they seem to ask, “Who am I now?”

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

  • Painting
  • American
  • James McMurray

Exhibition Venues & Dates