This survey catches a great Australian painter at the height of his powers. Born in 1952, Idris Murphy developed deep roots in the history of painting as well as a profound feeling for the natural environment. Murphy’s idiom transcends “either/or”—it is indistinguishably landscape painting and painterly abstraction all at once. Arising from a sort of improvisatory incantation, the most vivid metaphors of land, space, light, mood and feeling seem to coalesce spontaneously and unbidden.

Exhibition dates:

19 November – 22 January 2022

A Drill Hall Gallery touring exhibition.

Idris Murphy, Warnum (detail), 2011, acrylic and collage on board, 180 x 180 cm. Private Collection.