Figurative Futures Press Release

101/EXHIBIT is proud to present Figurative Futures, a group exhibition curated by Mark Murphy featuring 24 contemporary artists. This occasion marks Murphy’s first curated show with the gallery. The exhibition will run from July 22nd - August 26th, 2017. The opening takes place Saturday, July 22nd from 7-9pm at 668 North La Peer Drive, Los Angeles, located on the southeast corner of the Santa Monica Blvd and N La Peer Drive intersection. 

Figurative Futures aims to explore the mythology and evolution of figural art realized through a wide-ranging collection of inventive painting, sculpture, installation, jewelry, fiber arts, drawing and mixed media. The participating artists have been chosen for their highly regarded imaginative output as they consistently introduce new materials revealing groundbreaking form, and possess an insatiable interest for creating fresh, redefining moments in figurativism. Mechanical pencil, graphite and charcoal, twisted wire, ceramic, carved wood, cut canvas, and belabored applications of paint reveals an eclectic community of fearless creators while inducing a revised contemporary vernacular. Figurative Futures is a platform for artistic experimentation and unmistakable melding of categorical barriers. 

The artists exhibited in Figurative Futures includes Jason Shawn Alexander, Christian Clayton, Richard Downs, Chambliss Giobbi, Hugo Crosthwaite, Joshua Hagler, Nate Harris, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Seonna Hong, Tim Hussey, Maria Kreyn, Sophia Narrett, Joakim Ojanen, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, Robyn O’Neil, Erik Mark Sandberg, Larry Rivers, Kristen Schiele, Allison Schulnik, Rodger Stevens, Mark Whalen, Martin Wittfooth, Kent Williams and Marco Zamora.

Many of the artists have been shown in museums including but not limited to the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Laguna Art Museum, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Long Beach Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, Yokohama Art Museum, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. 

Mark Murphy has curated thematic art exhibitions celebrating the narrative tradition since 1998 and has worked with hundreds of artists of our time including EMIT by Trenton Doyle Hancock at the Ringling, Dialogue, the Fine Art of Conversation at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, In the Land of Retinal Delights at the Laguna Art Museum, and Behind Photographs featuring Tim Mantoani at the Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla to name a few. Notably, Mark Murphy has curated 25 major exhibitions and designed over 54 books and catalogs for the Clayton Brothers, Martin Wittfooth, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Jack Kirby, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network and Clint Eastwood. Mark Murphy is also included in the Library of Congress permanent archive.