Santa Monica Callege student Sean Manross, 17, art-sits the "Gwynn Murrill: Early Wood Sculpture," exhibit at S.M.C.'s Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery on Thursday, September 3, 2009. The exhibit will be at the gallery through Oct. 24, with the opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. A number of the sculptures assembled for the exhibit were made in the early 1970s, as Murrill was finishing her bachelor's and MFA degrees at UCLA. Although a painting major, Murrill took a sculpture class and was so intrigued by the use of laminated wood blocks in making a rocking horse that she continued in sculpture.
Eventually, she received her MFA in painting, but graduated with a refined body of sculpture large enough to have an exhibition at Rico Mizuno Gallery in Los Angeles in 1972. That launched the Los Angeles artist into a career as a sculptor, with a particular interest in the animal form, created with a unique balance between abstraction and representation.
"My second rocking horse from 1971 will be in this SMC show, and I will also be showing several pieces that were completed for my second solo exhibition, which was at Nick Wilder Gallery (in Los Angeles) in 1977," Murrill said. Also included in the exhibit will be pieces from the mid1980s when she was working with Koa wood while in Hawaii.
The work that will be in the SMC show comes from her own collection, while several pieces are on loan from private collectors, LA Louver Gallery in Venice, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Murrill said that working with wood blocks made it possible for her "to make radical changes in the sculpture" to tackle "sculptural problems I set up for myself."
"My interest in figurative sculpture is more about life and movement of the form as it is held by the surrounding space, rather than it is about the specific details of a certain individual," she said. "Though I use photographs while working, I try to stay away from portraiture and pay more attention to the abstract qualities of the form of the animal."
Murrill has had a prolific career in art, sculpting not only in wood, but also in marble, bronze, stone and ceramic.
Over her career, Murrill has received many accolades: the Guggenheim Fellowship, a Prix di Roma Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, National Endowment Grant, and a purchase award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In June, her latest public commission, for The Montana in Pasadena, received this year's Public Art Network Year in Review Award.
Murrill's work is held by many private collections and can been seen in number of public commissions throughout the U.S. and across the globe. The American Embassy in Singapore displays one of her Eagles, as does the Target Corp. Headquarters in Minneapolis. The City of Obihiro, Japan installed seven of Murrill's Deer along its main thoroughfares in 2003, and Los Angeles' Grand Hope Park is home to a collection of three coyotes, a hawk, and one snake.
For information, call (310) 434-3434.
Eventually, she received her MFA in painting, but graduated with a refined body of sculpture large enough to have an exhibition at Rico Mizuno Gallery in Los Angeles in 1972. That launched the Los Angeles artist into a career as a sculptor, with a particular interest in the animal form, created with a unique balance between abstraction and representation.
"My second rocking horse from 1971 will be in this SMC show, and I will also be showing several pieces that were completed for my second solo exhibition, which was at Nick Wilder Gallery (in Los Angeles) in 1977," Murrill said. Also included in the exhibit will be pieces from the mid1980s when she was working with Koa wood while in Hawaii.
The work that will be in the SMC show comes from her own collection, while several pieces are on loan from private collectors, LA Louver Gallery in Venice, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Murrill said that working with wood blocks made it possible for her "to make radical changes in the sculpture" to tackle "sculptural problems I set up for myself."
"My interest in figurative sculpture is more about life and movement of the form as it is held by the surrounding space, rather than it is about the specific details of a certain individual," she said. "Though I use photographs while working, I try to stay away from portraiture and pay more attention to the abstract qualities of the form of the animal."
Murrill has had a prolific career in art, sculpting not only in wood, but also in marble, bronze, stone and ceramic.
Over her career, Murrill has received many accolades: the Guggenheim Fellowship, a Prix di Roma Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, National Endowment Grant, and a purchase award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In June, her latest public commission, for The Montana in Pasadena, received this year's Public Art Network Year in Review Award.
Murrill's work is held by many private collections and can been seen in number of public commissions throughout the U.S. and across the globe. The American Embassy in Singapore displays one of her Eagles, as does the Target Corp. Headquarters in Minneapolis. The City of Obihiro, Japan installed seven of Murrill's Deer along its main thoroughfares in 2003, and Los Angeles' Grand Hope Park is home to a collection of three coyotes, a hawk, and one snake.
For information, call (310) 434-3434.
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