Michael Murphy: Damage

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michael murphy

May 3-June 29 - for times visit avarts.org

The Association for Visual Arts will host a solo exhibition of work by multi-media artist Michael Murphy. Murphy studied sculpture at Kent State University where he received his BFA, and he received his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited across the United States and has been included in numerous publications including TIME Magazine, New York Magazine, Uptown Magazine, Washington Life, Art for Obama, and Designing Obama. His works are held in private collections in Munich, London, Paris, Zurich, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, Chicago, Cleveland and Washington DC. Murphy currently lives and works in Milledgeville, Georgia where he is an Assistant Professor of Art and Technology at Georgia College.

"Damage is the latest work of multimedia artist Michael Murphy. Composed of hundreds of suspended black spheres, it creates a dark wave that consumes nearly the entire front gallery at the Association of Visual Arts in Chattanooga, Tennessee. As viewers move through the space, the lyrical arrangement of parts appears to shift and move. As viewers migrate to the front of the gallery, the wave appears to transform into a graphic illusion of an AR-15 assault rifle, similar to the one used by James Holmes in the 2012 Aurora shooting.

Historically, the black ball was used in secret ballots to signify opposition. Here they are used openly to signify opposition to the gun culture and culture of violence that we currently have in the United States. While assault rifles are a part of the problem with violence in the US, last year they accounted for only one of every twenty three gun murders. Assault weapons are not the problem. "

To learn more about Michael Murphy, visit his website: http://mmike.com/