American painter Liam Murphy-Torres (b. 2000) arrives at scenes of daily life by way of painterly abstraction. Working from a combination of direct observation, memory, and the art of the past, his work reads both as a visual diary of lived experience and as pure painting in the modernist tradition. He incorporates motifs drawn from public and private urban life, but the ultimate meaning of his paintings remains in their formal language. City streets, parks, and domestic spaces become transformed into color and shape – creating pictorial space rather than aiming for mimetic reproduction. His project is inherited from Cézanne, Matisse, and the Bay Area Figurative Painters, but reimagined in light of his own experiences.
Born in Boston, Murphy-Torres is currently an MFA student at the New York Studio School. He is the recipient of an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant and his work has been exhibited in New York, London, and Philadelphia.
He earned his BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he was honored with the Packard Drawing Prize, the Irma H. Cook Prize, the August Cook Prize, and the Daniel Garber Prize for Excellence in Drawing. He holds a Barnes-DeMazia Certificate in art history and aesthetics, and has studied at the Art Students League of New York and the Mount Gretna School of Art.
Contact
Email: lxtorresxart@gmail.com
Instagram: @liammurphytorres
Curriculum Vitae
Born 2000, Boston, Mass.
Education
- MFA, New York Studio School. New York, NY. (2024-Present)
- Mount Gretna School of Art. Mount Gretna, PA. (2020,2024)
- Barnes-DeMazia Certificate, Barnes Foundation. Philadelphia, PA. (2023)
- BFA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2018-2022)
- Art Students League of New York. New York, NY. (Intermittent study, 2018-2020)
Group Exhibitions
- Summer Exhibition. Hampstead Art Society. London, UK. (2024)
- Mt. Gretna Outdoor Art Show. Mt. Gretna, PA. (2024)
- Mt. Gretna School of Art Student Exhibition. PA Chautauqua Hall of Philosophy. Mt. Gretna, PA. (2024)
- The Edible Landscape 7. Mt. Gretna School of Art. Philadelphia, PA. (2023)
- The Edible Landscape 6. Mt. Gretna School of Art. Philadelphia, PA. (2022)
- After Pierre Matisse. Beekman and Mitchell. Philadelphia, PA. (2022)
- 121st Annual Student Exhibition. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2022)
- Emerging Artists Exhibition. Bob Jackson Galley, The Plastic Club. Philadelphia, PA. (2022)
- Art From Art. The School of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2021)
- 120th Annual Student Exhibition. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2021)
- MGSoA Alumni Exhibition: Selected Small Works. Space Scribbles. Online. (2021)
- Mt Gretna School of Art. Oxford Arts Alliance. Oxford, PA. (2020)
- Mt. Gretna School of Art Student Exhibition. Heights Community Center. Mt. Gretna, PA. (2020)
- 118th Annual Student Exhibition. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2019)
- Translations. The School of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2018)
- The Student Concours. Art Students League: The Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery. New York, NY. (2018)
Awards and Grants
- Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant. (2024)
- Mt. Gretna School of Art Merit Scholarship (2024)
- The Irma H. Cook Prize, The August Cook Prize, and the Daniel Garber Prize for Excellence in Drawing, Pennsylvania Academy if the Fine Arts. (2022)
- Packard Drawing Prize (First Place), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2021)
- Mt. Gretna Student Show Juror’s Selection, Third Place (Awarded by Clintel Steed) (2020)
- Mt. Gretna School of Art Merit Scholarship (2020)
- Hannah Shickley Memorial Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. (2019)
- Dean’s Scholarship Award, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. (2018)
- Presidential Scholarship Award, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. (2018)
- Rev. Maynard G. Nagengast, O.S.B. Award for Achievement in the Visual Arts. (2018)
Teaching
- Gallery Specialist, The Barnes Foundation. (2023-2024)
- Independent Drawing and Painting Workshops. (2021-Present)
- Faculty, Penn Studio School. (2021)
- Summer Academy TA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2021)
- Teaching Intern, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts High School Program (2018-2020)
Curation
- [Co-Curator] At the Beginning of Seeing. Oxford Arts Alliance. Oxford, PA. (2024)
- [Curator] The Other Foot Follows: A solo exhibition of works by Ana Neifeld. St. Mark’s Square. Philadelphia, PA. (2023)
- [Juror] Shaping the Conversation. School of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2019)
- [Co-Curator] Tenderfoot: An Exhibition of New Artists. School of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, PA. (2019)