Idris Murphy
Idris Murphy won the 2014 Gallipoli Art Prize with his painting Gallipoli Evening 2013, which was inspired by the place as well as a recent discovery of 160 letters written by grandfather Charles Idris Pike from the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Western Front to his sweetheart Violet (who later became Charles’ wife).
Your Friend the Enemy – the title of this exhibition – is inspired by these very letters and Murphy’s deeply emotional response to the place and its history.
Murphy is one of the most individual and highly respected artists working in Australia. His career as a painter has been widely lauded, with early recognition in the form of a travel scholarship provided by Dame Elizabeth Murdoch, and judged by Fred Williams. and more recently, he was one of the featured artists in the SBS documentary Two Thirds Sky- Artists in Desert Country.
Murphy is a respected educator and artist who has been the driving force behind the promotion and building of a series of accommodation and studios for both Australian and International artists in the outback of NSW; the only ongoing such project in Australia.
Idris Murphy’s work is held in the public collections of the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, Federal Parliament House Art Collection and the Art Gallery of NSW, State Library of New South Wales and the State Library of Queensland.
Image: Lone Pine, 2013, acrylic on board, 120x110cm
Courtesy the artist
In this preview of the Your Friend the Enemy documentary, meet some of the artists involved as they first encounter the surrounds of Gallipoli.
Including your local newsagent, you can also purchase the Your Friend the Enemy Special Edition at select Art Gallery shops listed here.
In commemoration of the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign this year, Your Friend the Enemy curated by John McDonald, is opening at S.H. Ervin Gallery.
The Your Friend the Enemy trip wasn’t nearly finished after the artists flew out from Turkey in 2014. The project had only just begun.
As we near the launch of the Your Friend the Enemy exhibitions, we look back to the personal links that inspired Your Friend the Enemy.
For artist Idris Murphy The Lost Diggers, accompanied by a show at the State Library held personal connections to the ANZAC legend.
Despite its geographical distance from Australia, Gallipoli holds great relevance and connection to contemporary Australian history. Linked by personal stories and histories to the battles...
After three days straddling the Golden Horn, there is a sense of itchy feet; artists eager to get into the field, but at the same...
Deirdre Bean • Elisabeth Cummings • Steve Lopes • Guy Maestri • Euan Macleod • Idris Murphy • Michael Nock • Peter O’Doherty • Susan...
Deirdre's watercolour paintings reveal the beautiful forms that can be found within nature.
Cummings works quietly and consistently. Her work, while influenced by landscape,her process is led by intuition.
Steve Lopes is a painter and printmaker known for his figurative landscape works.
Macleod produces dark, expressive landscape paintings
Maestri’s work documents the many journeys he has made across the country and the experience of the Australian landscape.
Michael Nock is a practicing artist primarily focusing on oil painting, his works are imbued with the deep emotion that is etched into the landscape.
Peter O'Doherty's paintings are tonal assemblages of oblique geometric detail imbued with dense shadow and vivid Australian light.
Susan O’Doherty is a mixed media artist whose work ranges from large abstract paintings through to small mixed media assemblages as well as acrylic portraits.
Holding a personal connection to the trip, New Zealand artist Stanley Palmer’s Father fought at Gallipoli.
Travelling informs the work of respected Australian contemporary painter Amanda Penrose Hart.
The landscape has always been Robba's muse, but in this expedition the meaning goes beyond the surface of the painting.
Earthy tones and layered washes result in the vibrant flowing landscapes by Luke Scibberas.