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Part of RESPUN exhibition

Artist Carolyn Murphy will be part of the Fankle Art Collective’s RESPUN exhibition at the Durning Library in Kennington this December. It’s an adaptation of their successful UNSPUN show (Willesden Gallery, June 2024) to a new space with a revised line up of work. RESPUN opens with a private view on Wednesday 4 December, from 5.30pm – 7.30pm.

‘Lightly tethered’ by Carolyn Murphy

Nine artists from the Fankle Collective focus on making, remaking, spinning and transformation. RESPUN brings together ideas of deconstruction and rebuilding, disconnection and reconnection, fragmentation of language and communication. In the show, Fankle members unravel and re-spin stories over time, mythology and place, exploring migration, home and belonging, our relationship to nature and the non-human.

Poster for RESPUN exhibition

As narratives emerge, tangling and untangling, visitors are reminded of the idea that a world of life is woven from physical and emotional strands, overlapping, contrasting, constantly changing and fragile.

Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023 by emerging artists from the Middlesex University MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. This show encompasses diverse media, including printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, collage and photography.

‘Transplant’ by Jan Pimblett

The group’s name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas that combine in their shows and the varied generational and geographic origins of their members, with threads extending to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.

Exhibiting artists in RESPUN: Maryam Abdollahi, Phil Dunn, Angela Forrester, Carolyn Murphy, Iliana Ortega-Alcázar, Jan Pimblett, Hanan Tawfiq, Kathy Rooney, Luke Anthony Rooney.

Further information: www.fankle.art  Instagram @fankle.art

RESPUN runs from 4 December 2024 to 2 January 2025. The gallery is on the ground floor of the Durning Library, a 10-minute walk from Kennington underground station (Northern line). Open Mondays 1 – 6pm, Tuesdays 10am – 6pm, Wednesdays 10am – 8pm, Thursdays closed, Fridays 10am – 6pm, Saturdays 9am – 5pm, Sundays closed. Please check the library website for Christmas opening hours.

‘Unfiltered’ by Phil Dunn

AA2A artist in residence in Chester

Carolyn Murphy is an AA2A Artist in Residence in Chester this year, joining the University of Chester as part of the AA2A Project scheme. Residencies provide access to state-of-the-art resources and a collaborative environment for professional practice development, whilst enriching the academic environment for students. This year, AA2A is celebrating 25 years of delivering residency programmes through art and design institutions across England.

“In this residency, I plan to develop further the installation side of my practice, bringing together traditional print processes with digital technology, such as laser cutting, to take forward my interest in fragile structures,” Carolyn explained. “I love to learn and to share knowledge and I hope to continue to do this through the AA2A residency, and connect with a wider learning community through printmaking.”

Carolyn Murphy with some of her installation works, Mile End Art Pavilion, July 2022

The residency at the University of Chester runs from October 2024 to summer 2025. There are six resident artists, bringing diverse disciplines and experiences to the programme. In December the AA2A artists put on an exhibition in Chester city centre, at the University’s CASC Gallery, to introduce themselves and their practice to students and staff.

‘Reclaiming’, on display at CASC Gallery, Chester, December 2024
Carolyn Murphy’s installation ‘No Stone Unturned VII’ in the window of the Chester exhibition
Visitors to the gallery
Artists’ talks to staff and students, December 2024
AA2A coordinator Greg Fuller talks about the work on show

During the year, Carolyn will be sharing updated on her Instagram page, as the residency progresses and she experiments with new techniques.

Post updated with exhibition images – December 2024.

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Festival of Print

Carolyn Murphy will be exhibiting at the Festival of Print, at Mile End Art Pavilion this year. The Festival is an annual celebration of printmaking, organised by East London Printmakers to showcase members’ work and share the joy of print.

Poster for Festival of Print 2024

The Festival of Print 2024 opens on Friday 25 October and runs until Sunday 3 November. At the Opening night printmaker Paul Catherall was the guest speaker and presented prizes on behalf of the sponsors.

Carolyn Murphy at the Opening with her monotypes

This was Carolyn’s first time exhibiting with East London Printmakers, since becoming an Associate Member in 2023. She also volunteered to support the hanging team of this huge exhibition, which included 99 printmakers. There is an array of excellent contemporary print, for sale, as well as a box set and plenty of cards.

Installation view of the Opening
Installation view
Opening night
Mile End Art Pavilion’s Festival of Print 2024

Entry is free to all. Opening times are 11am to 6pm Friday 25 October to Saturday 2 November and 11am to 4pm on Sunday 3 November at Mile End Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, Clinton Road, Mile End, London E3 4QY.

‘Inkscapes’ at the Horsebridge

Carolyn Murphy has work in ‘Inkscapes’ at the Horsebridge in Whitstable, Kent. The Printmakers Council has selected and curated the exhibition, which is inspired by ideas of landscape, and a sense of place, including Whitstable itself. ‘Still Recovering’, is a collagraph which connects human activity to issues of damage and repair of the environments we share.

‘Still Recovering’ an original collagraph by Carolyn Murphy

‘The image is based on an area near Rivington Pike, in the North West. So it’s not local to Whitstable – but it reflects on the impact of human activity on place’, Carolyn explained. ‘The damage of fire is sudden and devastating, and it often takes decades for the ecology to truly recover. It’s not just about the visible surface.’

All the work in the show is free to view and available to purchase. ‘Inkscapes’ runs from 11 – 23 September 2024 at The Horsebridge, 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable CT5 1AF.

There is a private view on Saturday 14 September, from 12 – 4pm, and many of the artists will be there to talk about their work. Everyone is very welcome! Opening times are: Monday to Saturday 9am – 5pm (closed Tuesdays), Sunday 10am – 4pm.

Source 2 poster

Source 2 exhibition in Bath

Carolyn Murphy will be showing work at Source 2 exhibition in Bath this August, alongside Maxine Foster and Jonathan Roelofse. The show at 44AD artspace brings together three artists working with their connections, reflections and interactions with landscape.

Artists

Maxine Foster will be showing a contrasting series of prints from Devon and California. Carolyn Murphy brings her artwork from a major landmark location of the Pennine region of North West England, including her large monotype ‘Winter Hill’, in six sections, with collage and burnt sections. Jonathan Roelofse paints and prints from the plantations and woodland of Central Portugal.

Works by Maxine Foster
‘Winter Hill’ by Carolyn Murphy
Jonathan Roelofse at work

How to find it

The exhibition runs from Monday 19 – Sunday 25 August 2024 in the main gallery, which is open 12 – 5pm / Sun 1pm – 4pm. You can find 44AD artspace at 4 Abbey Street, Bath BA1 1NN. The private view is on Tuesday 20 August from 6pm – 8pm and you are very welcome.

Following on from a successful first exhibition together in 2023, Maxine and Jonathan return to 44AD with new work for Source 2. This is the first time Carolyn has joined them and she is exhibiting in Bath for the first time. To find out more about Source 2, please check out further details on the 44AD website.

‘Unspun’ exhibition at Willesden Gallery

Carolyn Murphy will show new work in the ‘Unspun’ exhibition at Willesden Gallery in June, with the Fankle Art Collective.

Exhibition poster

‘Unspun’ is an exploration of undoing, release and disintegration, and a loose and lively celebration of holding things together. See nine artists from the Fankle Collective focus on making, remaking, spinning and transformation. They bring together ideas of deconstruction and rebuilding, disconnection and reconnection, fragmentation of language and communication.

In the show, Fankle members unravel and spin stories over time, mythology and place, exploring migration, home and belonging, our relationship to nature and the non-human. The exhibition runs from Tuesday 25 June until Saturday 6 July 2024, with the private view on Thursday 27 June, from 6-8pm.

‘Lightly Tethered’, a new installation piece by Carolyn Murphy

As narratives emerge, tangling and untangling, visitors are reminded of the idea that a world of life is woven from physical and emotional strands, overlapping, contrasting, constantly changing and fragile. Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023 by emerging artists from the Middlesex University MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. This show encompasses printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, painting, collage, photography and film and video.

The group’s name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas that combine in their shows and the varied generational and geographic origins of its members, with threads extending to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.

Exhibiting artists: Maryam Abdollahi | Phil Dunn |Angela Forrester | Carolyn Murphy | Moritz Nicolai | Iliana Ortega-Alcázar | Jan Pimblett |Hanan Tawfiq | Kathy Rooney

Getting There

For more information, please check out www.fankle.art and @fankle.art and @willesden_gallery on Instagram.

Willesden Gallery, 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF

www.brent.gov.uk/willesdengallery

The gallery is on the ground floor of The Library at Willesden Green, a 5 minute walk from Willesden Green underground station (Jubilee line). Open weekdays 10.30am to 8pm, Saturdays 10.30am to 5pm and Sundays 12pm to 5pm.

Part of Derby Print Open 2024

Carolyn Murphy will be part of Derby Print Open 2024, in June, along with over 70 other printmakers, selected for this year’s exhibition. Her works ‘Fracture’ and ‘Fracture 2’ will feature among over 250 prints for the show, which opens on Saturday 1 June.

‘Fracture’, a collagraph by Carolyn Murphy, will be available framed and unframed.
‘Fracture 2’ by Carolyn Murphy will be available unframed at the Derby Print Open 2024.

The Derby Print Open is an exhibition, organised by Green Door Printmaking Studio, which showcases contemporary printmaking from artists based in the United Kingdom.

Visitors will have the opportunity to peruse and purchase prints throughout the from 1 – 30 June 2024. There will be a wonderfully diverse selection of traditional and contemporary techniques, including screen printing, etching, linocut, monoprint, lithography and more. Works will be on show across four venues as part of a print trail; Banks Mill Studios, Dubrek Studios, Déda and The Smallprint Company.

Additionally, you can find details about the exhibition, including opening times, here. Since opening hours of different venues do vary, please do check carefully. The launch event is on Saturday 1 June, from 11am to 2pm. All venues are within 15 minutes walk from each other.

Inspired by Manchester

‘Inspired by Manchester’, a pop-up exhibition in Sale town centre, includes work by Carolyn Murphy. The exhibition, organised by Neighbourhood Gallery, features work by artists from across the North West of England in a range of media. It’s the first time that Carolyn has submitted work, so it was great to see ‘Bridgewater Canal’ on the wall, alongside some fabulous artists. Carolyn also had some of her linocuts in the window and all works were for sale.

Exhibition in Sale town centre

The exhibition runs from 9 February to 2 March with a private view on 8 February 2024. It’s an exhibition of works “inspired by Manchester’s iconic cityscapes, spirited people and vibrant culture”.

Carolyn at ‘Inspired by Manchester’ with her etching of Bridgewater Canal

‘Bridgewater Canal’ is an etching, which captures a hidden level of Manchester, where the canal runs right through the city centre. It’s an atmospheric image and it’s due to feature in a book about Manchester soon.

‘Sale Water Park’, a reduction linocut by Carolyn Murphy, has gone off to new home from the show.

Artist Carolyn Murphy with her work 'Falling Fragments' at the Barbican show

Printmaking ‘Surface Challenge’

Carolyn Murphy is part of the printmaking ‘Surface Challenge’ exhibition at Barbican Library, organised by the Printmakers Council. The exhibition displays a wide range of printmaking techniques and sets members a challenge, interpreting the theme however they wished for this selected show.

Details of the Show

Carolyn submitted an experimental piece, inspired by the complex surfaces and spaces of Eduardo Chillida’s ‘gravitaciones’ series of works on paper, that she has been studying as part of her MA programme. The surface of her work ‘Falling Fragments’ is divided over four pieces of paper, connected with thread. Incorporating collaged elements and embossing, the surface is hard to read and suggests an urban landscape and uncertain spaces.

Carolyn with her work ‘Falling Fragments’ at the private view

The exhibition runs from 2 February to 26 February 2024 in the Foyer of the Barbican Library, in the Barbican Centre, London. There’s a private view on 7 February 2024 and all are welcome.

To see more of Carolyn’s work, check out the Gallery section of this website and social media channels.