“When you are in the groove, the work is telling you what it wants. It’s about what the work wants.” — Richard Tuttle

”A work of art can survive without the market, but where there is no gift, there is no art.” — Lewis Hyde, The Gift

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy Murphy Spicer’s works are physical and collaborative drawings and performances which activate social, architectural and geographic space. Her work poses questions such as what is the nature of beauty, who creates it, and how do we notice the moment when art occurs.

For the RaumX exhibtion, Murphy Spicer presents a series of works on paper, a drawing installation and an artists book documenting a participatory, curatorial project.

Nancy Murphy Spicer’s Disrupted Drawings prize an intentionally casual process. In creating them, assumptions about the final work are set aside and the generously built surface reveals the narrative of the making. Rice paper, acrylic and gouache come together in a drawing object that encompasses painting, sculpture and drawing.

In the spirit of Lewis Hyde’s ideas about art as a gift, Murphy Spicer initiated a participatory, curatorial project for her exhibition at RaumX entitled more than momentary: ENJOY. She enaged an international group of 23 volunteers to borrow and spend extended time with the Disrupted Drawings before the exhibition. It was her intention that, with this temporary possession of the work, participants would derive pleasures and benefits that surpass the typically brief exhibition and/or online viewing experience. An artists book documents the project in photos and text and will be on view at RaumX.

Murphy Spicer’s Hanging Drawing 2 (20 successive drawings unique and unrehearsed) is dependent on a slightly different “gift” scenario. In this work, beholders engage with the work to create a series of drawings using the substantial, dimensional line that comprises the work. Made of lead, rubber, and paint, the line hangs on the wall, draped across a series of small hooks, its weight creating catenary arcs toward the floor. A set of simple instructions is provided as guidelines for engagement. At the RaumX opening, a selected group of individuals will perform the work, each making their unique set of twenty fleeting drawings.

American artist Nancy Murphy Spicer, formerly based in London, lives and works in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.

Her work is represented by Carroll and Sons, Boston, Massachusetts.

www.murphyspicer.com

www.carrollandsons.net/artists/spicer/