The first solo exhibition by artist, actor and co-founder of The Murray Parish Trust, Jim Murray, is now open at The Arc, Winchester.
Collectively titled In Flow, the actor’s works have taken over City Space on The Arc’s mezzanine floor until Sunday 25 June, and have been created in response to a new exhibition in The Gallery at The Arc, Constable: The Dark Side, a unique exhibition exploring Constable’s ongoing obsession with the contrast between light and dark and the way that he placed that at the heart of his exploration of the landscape.
In Flow is a series of new abstract works which celebrate painting as a medium. They evidence a transformative state of mind, known to artists past and present. To be in a state of ‘flow’ in which ‘people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter,’ is where Murray believes all artists, performers and athletes strive to be. Painting offers him an elastic mental space where time becomes so stretched and distorted that it no longer matters. It was Constable himself who recognised that “In a sketch, there is nothing but the one state of mind – that which you were in at the time."
An actor by trade (The Crown, Masters of the Air, Primeval, Robson and Jim’s Flyfishing Adventures), Murray uses downtime between filming to indulge his creative passion. Studying Constable in preparation for this exhibition pushed him to delve deeply into the Romantic Sublime movement and with his flagship painting, Inside Constable’s Storm, he has created an abstract piece which evokes the terror of being out in the middle of a wild storm in an endless and dark ocean.
‘Action’ painting or ‘gestural abstraction’ is a focus on the physical act of painting itself, and for Murray, it is as vital to the piece as the finished image. He describes the process - with its constant movement, where the image can change so wildly and dramatically minute to minute - as wholly compelling and utterly absorbing.
Murray comments, “It’s as if the painting is in charge and you, the painter, are challenged with keeping up with it as it dictates both pace and direction, and this deeply mesmeric process is what keeps me in flow for hours on end. Knowing when to call it, to put the brush down, walk away and reluctantly decide the painting is ‘finished’ is the hardest part. Painting keeps me present, gives me a sense of achievement and above all brings great joy.”
Entry to In Flow at The Arc, which is run by Hampshire Cultural Trust, is free and all the artworks are available to purchase.
For more information, please visit https://www.hampshireculture.org.uk/event/james-murray.