Murray Kirkland has participated in over thirty group exhibitions since 1990, and has held over a dozen solo exhibitions since 1993. In 1994, while studying at the Canberra School of Art, Murray began to examine issues around the perception of history, utilizing the Great War as a departure point for research and expression. Issues addressed in these bodies of work include; the difficulty of conveying an experience to an audience that has not witnessed or endured the same experience themselves, personal accounts as opposed to big picture histories, loss of identity, mythologizing and landscape as witness. This exploration is continuing however, given its often disturbing nature, he has interspersed this work with exhibitions dealing with other themes. Inspiration for these other bodies of work come from a diverse range of sources including his childhood in the country, flying dreams, natural history, science fiction, clouds and landscape.
The artist’s most notable successes have been achieved with his war-related work. After an exhibition at the library at the Australian Defence Force Academy in 2006 titled ‘Passchendaele: Beyond Imagination’ Murray was offered the opportunity to show the same body of work at the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke, Belgium as part of the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. While in Belgium Murray undertook two residencies, the first at the atelier of master printer Rudolf Broulim, and the second at the Frans Masereel Centre in Kasterlee in northern Belgium.
Murray produced a folio of lithographs, etchings and an edition of artist’s books during these residencies. This work, along with new work produced in response to his time in Belgium, was exhibited at the library of the Australian Defence Force Academy in 2009 under the title ‘Des Souvenirs 1914 – 1918’.
In 2011 Murray won a Staff Research Fellowship at the National Film and Sound Archive where he has been employed since 2004. Through this research he gained an understanding of attitudes and ideals held by Australian society during the Great War. The Artist’s Journal created during this fellowship will provide the basis for visual expression and the possibility of an exhibition in the future.
Murray works in a range of media including found objects, assemblages, printmaking and painting. His work has been exhibited at a number of national institutions in Australia, the USA, New Zealand and Europe.
The National Gallery of Australia and the Australian War Memorial hold several of Murray’s artworks. His work is also held in collections in Belgium and in private collections in Australia and overseas.
ARTIST CV
PLACE OF BIRTH
| 1962 | Warren, NSW Australia |
EDUCATION
| 1986 | Bachelor of Arts – script writing, Canberra College of Advanced Education |
| 1996 | Bachelor of Arts (Honours) – Graphic Investigation Workshop, Canberra Institute of the Arts |
| 2003 | Certificate IV Museum Practice, Canberra Institute of Technology |
ASSOCIATIONS
| Canberra Contemporary Artspace | |
| Megalo Print Studio and Gallery |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2013 | Attack of the Fifty Foot Movie Poster, Kiora Gallery, Hobart Place Acton ACT |
| 2010 | Memories of The Great War. Australian Defence Force Academy Library, Duntroon ACT |
| 2009 | Des Souvenirs 1914 – 1918. Australian Defence Force Academy Library, Duntroon ACT |
| 2008 | Clouds and flying dreams Rarified Gallery, Dickson ACT |
| 2008 | Identity/Anonymity (large edition)The British Grenadier Bookshop, Ypres, Belgium |
| 2007 | Passchendaele 1917, Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, Zonnebeke, Belgium |
| 2006 | Identity/Anonymity (Large edition) Tyne Cot Cemetery Visitors’ Centre, Flanders, Belgium |
| 2006 | Passchendaele: Beyond Imagination, Australian Defence Force Academy Library, Duntroon ACT |
| 2003-4 | Homeless; Homemade soft toy installation, Health Pact London Circuit, Civic ACT |
| 2003 | Homeless; Homemade soft toy installation, This is not a telephone booth gallery, Gorman House, Braddon ACT |
| 2003 | The Big Backyard; Assemblages + found objects inspired by a childhood in the country, Australian National Capital Artists Inc, Dickson ACT |
| 2001 | Head Full of Clouds, Pinki’s Café, Braddon ACT |
| 1998 | Behind Every Number, Chief of Staff’s Annual Army History Conference, National Convention Centre, Canberra ACT |
| 1996 | Dust Recalling War; Australian National Capital Artists Inc, Dickson ACT |
| 1993 | A Desert Rhapsody, PhotoAccess, Acton ACT |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2014 | ANZAC Voices, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT |
| 2013 | 100% Books by Canberra Artists, Watson Arts Centre, Watson ACT |
| 2013 | Linden Postcard show, Linden centre for Contemporary Art, St Kilda, Melbourne |
| 2011 | Lakeside, Tuggeranong Artspace, Tuggeranong ACT |
| 2009 | Linden Postcard show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, St Kilda, Melbourne |
| 2008 | Linden Postcard show, Linden centre for Contemporary Art, St Kilda, Melbourne |
| 2008 | Gallipoli Art Prize, exhibition of finalists, Gallipoli Club, Circular Quay, Sydney |
| 2007 | Marche du Livre de Mariemont, Charleroi, Belgium |
| 2004 | Shaping Memory, Australian War Memorial Canberra ACT |
| 2004 | Cromwell’s Art Prize, exhibition of short listed work, Pyrmont Sydney NSW |
| 2003 | Contemporary Art Exhibition and Award, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Braddon ACT |
| 2003 | Tuggeranong Regional Arts Competition and Exhibition, Tuggeranong Arts Centre ACT |
| 2003 | Canberra Art Prize exhibition, Italo Australian Club, Forrest ACT |
| 2003 | Cootamundra Soroptimist Society Annual Exhibition, Cootamundra NSW |
| 2003 | Canberra Contemporary Art Space Manuka 10th Birthday Exhibition, Manuka ACT |
| 2003 | Here and Now, Words and Images from Brisbane Refugee Community, Brisbane City Hall |
| 2002 | On The Road Members Show, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Braddon ACT |
| 2002 | The A4 Refugee Project, Contemporary artists in support of refugees, Development Space Queensland State Library, Brisbane QLD |
| 2002 | Elvis is Alive and Living in Canberra, Contemporary Art Space, Manuka ACT |
| 2001 | Artist’s Book 3, Drill Hall Gallery, Acton ACT |
| 1998 | Cootamundra Soroptimist Society Annual Exhibition, Cootamundra NSW |
| 1998 | Dog’s Breakfast, Australian National Capital Artists Inc, Dickson ACT |
| 1998 | Tunnel of Love, members show, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Braddon ACT |
| 1997 | Artist Made Book Exchange, Touring – USA, Australia, New Zealand |
| 1997 | Casula Aquisitive Print Prize, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney |
| 1997 | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Members Show, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Braddon ACT |
| 1996 | Casula Aquisitive Print Prize, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney NSW |
| 1995/6 | Artists’ Books and Fragile Objects, Musee de Beaux Arts Switzerland, Touring – Australian Embassy, Washington DC, National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT |
| 1995 | God Save The Queen, Members Show, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Braddon ACT |
| 1995 | Works in Progress, Foyer Gallery, Canberra Institute of The Arts, Acton ACT |
| 1995 | Ding Dang Don’t, Anti-Nuclear Testing Exhibition, Liechhardt Street Studios, Kingston ACT |
| 1994 | A Brush With The Bush, Members Show, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Braddon ACT |
| 1994 | Photo Access 10th Birthday Exhibition, Link Gallery, Canberra ACT |
| 1992 | Hamlet, Photospace, Canberra Institute of the Arts, Acton ACT |
| 1991 | Howitt St, How It Went, Photospace, Canberra Institute of The Arts, Acton ACT |
| 1990 | Fractal Moon Cow, Brindabella Arts Farm, Holt ACT |
RESIDENCES
| 2011 | Staff Research Fellowship, National Film and Sound Archive |
| 2007 | Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee, Belgium |
| 2007 | Rudolf Broulim’s Atelier, Ekeren, Belgium |
| 1998 | Graduate in Residence, Graphic Investigation Workshop, Canberra Institute of The Arts |
GRANTS
|
1997 |
Research Grant, Australian Army History Unit |
COLLECTIONS
| Australian National Gallery | |
| Frans Masereel Centrum. Belgium | |
| Australian War Memorial | |
| Australian National University, Graphic Investigation Workshop Collection Menzies Library | |
|
University of New South Wales |
|
| James Hardie Art Archive, Queensland State Library | |
| Bone Marrow Donor Institute, Parkville, Victoria | |
| Private collections Australia and Europe |
PUBLICATIONS
|
1991 |
Kunstwerk#4, Canberra Institute of the Arts Comic magazine |
|
1988 |
Redoubt#7, University of Canberra Literary Magazine |
|
1982 |
Ccaesarian, Canberra College of Advanced Education Newspaper |
|
1979 |
Universe, Journal of The Astronomical Society of New South Wales |