Artist
Gwynn Murrill
American, b. 1942
- Biography
- Curriculum Vitae
Paring away everything that is not absolutely necessary to perceive her subjects in all their purity, Gwynn often sacrifices details leaving us with sculptures emanating primal characteristics and universal attributes. Over her career Gwynn Murrill has created remarkable animal figures that are both timeless and contemporary. Initially working in wood and marble, Gwynn is now best known for her work cast in bronze, and for her enduring talent in portraying the essence of her subject in a form that is simultaneously abstract and figurative. Says Gwynn: "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 her subjects in all their purity, Gwynn often sacrifices details leaving us with sculptures emanating primal characteristics and universal attributes. Gwynn’s signature bronze works are fluid in line and form, elegant, inviting to touch and instilled with vitality and a sense of being--either caught in a tacit moment of serenity and self-possession or brimming with the implied potential to pounce, twist, or take off at any moment. Gwynn has spent most of her life living and working in the coastal hills of Southern California. She received her BFA and MFA from the University California, Los Angeles. Since her first solo show in 1972, Gwynn has had over 50 solo shows and has been included in more than 80 group exhibitions. IN 2013, Gwynn showcased 22 large bronze works, her largest exhibition to date, along the one-mile length of Avenue of The Stars in Century City, Los Angeles. Gwynn’s past accolades include: a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 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, Gwynn 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 several 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 Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY.
EDUCATION B.F.A. & M.F.A. UCLA, 1972
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2022 Frederick Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA 2020 Craig Krull Gallery, Gwynn Murrill Serpientes, Santa Monica, CA 2019 Craig Krull Gallery, Gwynn Murrill Figures, Santa Monica, CA
Laguna Art Museum. Sculptures by Gwynn Murrill, Laguna Beach, CA 2018Sonoma Art Museum, Four Deer Sculptures, Sonoma, CA
Telluride Gallery, Diane Best and Gwynn Murrill, Telluride, CO 2017 Bakersfield Museum, Early Wood Sculpture, Bakersfield, CA
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID 2016 Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Selected Work 2014 Gwynn Murrill, Christian Petersen Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Selections From The Studio, Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Elizabeth & Byron Anderson Sculpture Garden, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 2013 Murrill Menagerie, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Select Work, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID 2012 Gwynn Murrill on Avenue of The Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, CA
Sixty-Five Animal Maquettes, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY
Lux Art Institute, Exhibition and Artist in Residence, Encinitas, CA 2010 Gwynn Murrill, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA 2009 Maquettes, L.A. 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, L.A. Louver, Venice, CA 2006 Recent Sculpture in Bronze, Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY 2004 Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2003 New Work, L.A. Louver, Venice, CA 2002 Lux Art Institute, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 2001 Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY 2000 Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 1999 John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1998 Sculptures in Bronze, Joan Washburn, New York, NY 1997 New Work, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, IDPatricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 1995 Joan T. Washburn Gallery, New York, NY 1994 Artist’s Choice, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 1990 Oil / Pastels / Relief, Aluminum & Stone, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1987 Recent Sculpture, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Recent Sculpture, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1985 Coyote Series, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1983 New Sculpture, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1982 Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1981 Recent Sculpture, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1980 University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
Oil Pastels, Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1979 Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA 1977 New Work, Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1975 Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport, CA
Edward Thorp Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA 1972 Mizuno Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS2021 The 17th Annual Fête, Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY 2019 Made in California, Wayne Shimabukuro insightful portrait photographs, Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, San Bernardino, CA 2014 Western Visions (Featured Artist), National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Gwynn Murrill/Raphaëlle Goethals, Morrison Gallery, Kent, CT
Venice Under the Influence, curated by Amanda Quinn Olivar, Window Between Worlds
(James Beach), Venice, CA
Natural Unnatural Supernatural, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI 2013 National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States, Jackson, WY
Local Fish, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Celebrating Two Decades - The Peggy and Eric Lieber Collection and Other Gifts, Fredrick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, CA
The Animals Look Back at Us, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Woodstock, NY, & Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY 2012 The Big Picture, Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA
Ed’s Party: Spheres of Influence in The L.A. Art Scene, William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2011 Shatterheads and Gwynn, Two-person show with Ed Moses, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Land Use / Misuse: The Celebration and Exploitation of the American Landscape, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2010 Kink, Koplin Del Rio, Culver City, CA
5 Tigers (on extended loan), Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
Malibu Sculpture 2010, curated by Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Malibu, CA 2008 California in New York, curated by Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Hubert Gallery, New York, NY
Defining the West; Two Hundred Years of American Imagery, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX 2007 Multiple Vantage Points: Southern California Women Artists 1980-2006,
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CAday and night, L.A. Louver, Venice, CAThe Left Coast, Imago Galleries, Palm Desert, CA 2006 Going Ape: Confronting Animals in Contemporary Art, The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MAGwynn Murrill-Sculpture & Wayne Shimabukuro-Photography, California State University Los Angeles, Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, CA2005 Wilder: A Tribute to the Nicholas Wilder Gallery Los Angeles, 1965-1979, Washburn Gallery, New York, NY 2002 Animal Instincts, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2000 Representing L.A.: Pictorial Currents in Contemporary Southern California Art, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA (Traveled to the Art Institute of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX in 2001)Symbols of Survival: Images of Animals in Recent Sculpture, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY 1999 Form and Essence: Contemporary Sculpture, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA 1997 The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI 1995 Margaret Woodson Fisher Sculpture Gallery Dedication, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 1994 Wildlife, California Center for the Arts Center, Escondido, CA
1993 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 (traveling to Tsukashin Hall, Osaka, Japan) 1989 The Magical Mystery Tour, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA 1987 Curators’ Choice: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, Scott Hansen Gallery, New York, NY 1985 Magical Mystery Tour, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Hollywood, CA
Statements in Wood, California State University, Northridge, CA
1984 Wood Renditions, Security Pacific National Bank, Los Angeles, CA
You’ve Gotta Have Art, Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA 1983 Young Talent Award: 1963-1983, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 1982 Contemporary Californians VIII, (with Martha Alf), Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA 1980 Fellows Exhibition, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy 1979 Six in Wood, The Art Center, Cultural Arts Center Veterans Memorial Park, Sylmar, CA 1978 Seven Colorists, Lang Art Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA 1977 Private Images Photographed by Sculptors, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 1976 L.A. 8: Painting and Sculpture, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY 1975 Ellie Blankfort Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1974 Gwynn Murrill and Judy Pfaff, Artist Space, New York, NY
AWARDS
2019 Joan Mitchell Emergency Grant, Woosley Fire
2009 Americans for the Arts, Public Art Network, Year in Review Award
2007 Distinguished Woman Artist of The Year, The Fresno Museum Council of 100, Fresno, CA
2002 Good Design Award, Obihiro Station Plaza, Japanese Institute For Design Promotion
PROMOTION 1986 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
1985 Individual Artist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
1980 Prix di Roma Fellowship, American Academy in Rome
1978 New Talent Purchase Award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; enters the LACMA permanent collection SELECTED COMISSIONS
2008San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, CA
The Montana, MS Property Company, Pasadena, CA
2006 West L.A. Animal Services Center, City of Los Angeles, CA
2004 Greater Toronto Airport Authority, Pearson Airport, Toronto
2003 Target Corporation, Minneapolis, MN
2002 San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, CA
2001 City of Obihiro, Japan
2000 Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA
1999 City of Obihiro, Japan
1996 Embassy of the United States of America, Singapore
1994 Palos Verdes Peninsula Library, Rolling Hills, CA
1993 Hugo Neuhaus Jr. Memorial Fountain, Mrs. Hugo Neuhaus, Heritage Park, Houston, TX
1992 Grand Hope Park, City of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles, CA
1991 Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing (collaboration with Tony Berlant), Los Angeles, CA
1990City of Culver City, Redevelopment Art Program, Culver City, CA
U.S. Bank Plaza, LPT Associates, Sacramento, CA
1989 Ronald Reagan State Building, State of California Arts Commission, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS City of Brea, CA
City of Hope, Duarte, CA
City of Santa Monica, CA
Coldwater Canyon Park, City of Beverly Hills, CA
Commerce Bank, Kansas City, MO
Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, CA
Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Living Desert Museum, Palm Desert, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Marvin and Sondra Smalley Sculpture Garden, American Jewish University, Bel-Air, CA
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States, Jackson, WY
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
Rancho Tapo Community Park, Veterans Memorial, Simi Valley, CA
Pacific Western Bank (prev. Security Pacific Bank), Los Angeles, CA
Trammel Crow Corporation, Minneapolis, MN
TransAmerica Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Wells Fargo Bank (prev. United Bank of Denver), Denver, CO
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