JO MURRAY

Artist/Curator/Arts Adminstrator

Paintings, drawings, and Photographs

Parade

I co-ran an artist led pop-up space "Parade" from 2012-13 with Heather Tait on Marine Drive, Margate.
Over the course of the year we hosted regular weekly shows and screenings.
I took part in
  • Deliverance - the artwork was inspired by my job as a postwoman. I found myself in a new town, with a new job and my main form of communication was reading addresses on envelopes, reading instructions in my workplace, looking for doornumbers, and reading notes left to me on peoples doors. I created this installation as a mirror to my world at that time - a visual narrative of a spot in time. 
  • Curiosity - this show was curated in response to the show of the same name showing at Turner Contemporary at that time. We wanted to highlight peoples personal archives and examine what it is that draws us to archiving certain aspects of our lives, and also highlighting some of the more curioius aspects of personal histories.
  • Zine Weekend - Zines produced and created by many but the bulk by myself, Heather Tait and Steven Alan. 
https://parademargate.tumblr.com/


Pat Gwynne Archive

My Grandfather Pat Gwynne left a huge archive of photographic material when he died in 1996. I've been creating a digital archive of his work.
The work has generated great interest and has been exhibited at The Jerwood as part of the Photocopy Club "Family Politics" show and a selection of his photographs were in "Seaside Photographed" at Turner Contemporary in 2019.
His work is primarily of his family on holiday and at home. Like many amateur photographers he documented family occasions. His work resonates for many people because it really speaks of a time and place but he also has profound abilities to frame his work in interesting and unusual ways.



https://turnercontemporary.org/whats-on/seaside-photographed/
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jul/22/seaside-photographed-exhibition-turner-contemporary-margate-photography
https://www.ft.com/content/7bc26aaa-60a2-11e9-b285-3acd5d43599e
https://www.1843magazine.com/culture/look-closer/the-masochistic-appeal-of-the-british-seaside
https://vimeo.com/351638868
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/the-great-british-seaside-photographed/

Video and Sound Works

  •  

    What I know

    Video work I produced for an exhibition called "The Little Gallery" at the POSK gallery. The video examines family stories and the faction behind those tales.

  •  

    Get Down

    This sound piece was part of The Incomers Project run by Sally O'Reilly at OSE. It was a collaborative experiment whereby we devised ways of developing work in playful ways based on the current events of that time.

  •  

    CRAThElstan Sound STUDIO

    Crate and Athlstan Sounds collaborate in November 2019 by creating a sound studio and producing soundart in response to the space and its surroundings.

    CRAThElstan Sounds
  •  

    Loop Dreams

    Created in resonse to an exhibition at The Shopfront with Dominic Rose and Jon Spencer. The exhibition is a homage to the Loop bus route that circulates around Thanet.

  •  

    Crate Conversations - Pass it on - The Waste Land

    Five artists were each given a T.S.Eliot quote from the Waste Land. We each produced work in response to that quote and then passed the artwork on. We then had to respond to each artwork as it circulated around. In all we produced five artworks each. This video was one of the response within this project

    http://cratespace.co.uk/pass-it-on
  •  

    Morris Mash Up

    Morris dancing - the artform that epitomises a mythical rural past put to thrash metal - the sounds of a fantastical industrial present

  •  

    Revoloution8

    ‘Revolution 8’ - a film installation incorporating stacked televisions, two sources of audio, a front room inviting the viewer to enter with custard creams, a velvet curtain and a photograph of a house sandwiched between a fir tree and a pineapple tree. The installation is an ode to the fragility of being human. It tells the story of an unnamed seeker who believes that she has found the answer to life through her encounter with the mysterious Ehs. She recounts her attempt to re-establish contact with Ehs and pursue the true path. The piece uses story as a touchstone to human experience and desire and delusion.

    https://openschooleast.org/programmes/associates-programme/the-associates/2017-associates-projects/joanna-murray-3/

Seance - Spelunking

Seance - Spelunking - Taking Margate’s caves and tunnels as a starting point, Open School East invited their associate artists and members of the public to join artist Benedict Drew for an 8-week video-making project. They embarked on an imaginary exploration of the subterranean and created a fictional underground space, a place of myth, retreat, contemplation, meditation or even a place to party.
https://vimeo.com/244640789

I led on two events for the Spelunking programme concentrating on underground ceremonies.
I re-enacted a Spirit Cabinet drawing on the myths and stories of Margate's spirit world.
In homage to the seance's led by the honourable ladies of Margate in The Shell Grotto in the 30's, I recreated a seance at Turner Contemporary with the help of the public to call up the spirit on JMW Turner. 


Seance - Spelunking image

Mrs Teasmaid

Jo Murray took over the grounds and corridors of the Nayland Rock Hotel as character ‘Mrs Teasmaid’.

“Empires have been forged, battles fought, businesses expanded, love won, territories conquered, ideas initiated, art created, partnerships made, and behind all momentous historic moments tea has been brought to you by Mrs Teasmaid, said nobody ever.”

Mrs Teasmaid is waiting to make your acquaintance. An art performance with a loving nod to Monty Python, League of Gentleman, Father Ted, and Dinner Ladies created by Jo Murray and performed at The Nayland Rock. The hotel over looks the Nayland Rock Seaside Shelter where T.S. Eliot once sat contemplating his next line for section 3 The Fire Sermon • AT THE VIOLET HOUR Responding to T.S. Eliot’s 20th Century poem The Waste Land which was part written at Nayland Rock Seaside Shelter Margate • ...‘on Margate sands, I can connect nothing with nothing’ •

Artworks

Crate Conversations - Pass it on

Crate Conversations - Pass it on

Artwork produced by repsponding to T.S.Eliot's The Waste Land

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The Waste Land

The Waste Land

New version of T.S.Eliot's The Waste Land

Read More  

Zines

About Jo Murray

About Jo Murray image
I'm a Margate based artist and curator educated at University of Brighton - Fine Art Sculpture BA Hons 1st and Open School East 2017 - an independent artist run post grad school that developed out of a need to challenge pedagogical structures within formal art institutions. It had an emphasis on collaborative learning and public programming.
I am part of the programming team at Crate Studio and Project Space http://www.cratespace.co.uk/ - An artist run organisation committed to providing affordable space for artists to research their work and take risks without prescribed outcomes.
I'm a director of "Margate Now", an artist-run arts organisation that runs a yearly arts festival in Margate showcasing the work of local artists, providing opportunities for creative development, encouraging public participation and bringing life and joy to the streets of Margate.
I produce artwork about the unreliable narrator, human desire and wish fulfilment, and explore the flexible rendering of personal, family, and community memories.
I also love history, film, literature, drawing, stories.
https://murraj.tumblr.com/

Exhibitions

2019 

  •   - "Stuff on Walls, Things on Floors" - Pie Factory, Margate
  •   - "Crathelstan Sound Studio" - Crate, Margate
  •   - "Zine Week" - Crate, Margate
  •   - "House Meeting" - Crate, Margate
  •   -  "Seaside Photographed" - Turner Contemporary, Margate
  •   - "The Loop" - The Shop Front, Margate

2018 

  •  - "Front of House" - Pie Factory, Margate
  •  - "Domino" - Crate, Margate
  •  - "Crate Conversations" - Crate, Margate
  •  - "The Wasteland Salon" - Crate, Margate
  •  - "At the Violet Hour" - Nayland Rock, Margate

2017

  •  -  "The Well" - OSE, Resort, Margate
  •  - "The Incomers Project" - OSE, Lido, Margate
  •  - "Spelunking" - OSE, Resort, Margate
  •  - "Seance" - OSE, Turner Contemporary, Margate
  •  - "Subterranean Worlds" - OSE, Resort, Margate
  •  - "Afternoon Tea" - Royal York Mansions, Margate
  •  - "OSE Residency at Guest Projects" - Guest Projects, London
  •  - "OSE Open Studios" - Resort, Margate

2016  

  • - "Wearing Trousers" - Crate,Margate

2015 

  • - "Drawing Show" - The Allotment, Margate

2014

  • -  "Defeat the Object" Resort, Margate
  • -  "Berlin" Urban Spree Gallery, Berlin
  • -  "Little Experiment"  POSK Gallery, London
  • -  "Cityscapes" Light and Space, Online

2013  

  •  - "Family Politics" Jerwood Space, London
  •  -  "Art’s Cool" Bracket, Margate
  •  -  "Curiosity" Parade, Margate
  •  -  "Duchamps Window" Beach Creative, Herne Bay
  •  -   "Zine Weekend" Parade, Margate
  • -   "Resistance is Not Terrorism"  Parade, Margate

2012

  •   -  "Deliverance" Parade, Margate
  •  -  "Speaking with Our Mouths Full"  Parade, Margate
  •  -  "Facebook Friends" The Pie Factory, Margate

2008 

  • -  "Beyond the Fringe" Arthole, Lewes
  • -  "Art Sticky" Arthole, Lewes
  • -  "Puisseguin Exposition" - Saint-Emillion, France

2006  

  • -  "Anxiety Management" -  Thirtyfive-a, Brighton
  • -  "Out Jiving" - London

2005

  •  - "Graduation Show" -  University of Brighton
  •  -  "A not-so-private view" - The Marlborough, Brighton

Contact

  • Margate, United Kingdom