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Luke Murphy
Biography
Rev. Luke Murphy is an information-based artist whose work is united by common themes drawn from the impossible task of quantifying the elements of the psyche and spirit. He has a particular interest in the Gnostic gospels, Masonic ritual, religious paintings and digital languages - in effect, codes. Amorphous concepts are dissected and reassembled using the architecture of professional jargon and presentation techniques. Murphy's incessant need to organize ostensibly promises the viewer the hope of discovering a pattern or the key to the code and ultimately a shorter route to meaning, understanding and mastery of complex situations and emotions. This attempt to draw the connections within amorphous subjects, which in theory should soothe the viewer by simplifying the complex, instead reveals more layers of anxiety. The work's failure to deliver what they ostensibly promise is at once menacing and reassuring. Murphy has been producing and developing his work digitally since 1994 although a substantial portion of his work involves drawing and painting.
Rev. Murphy graduated with and MFA from SUNY Purchase after completing his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and a BS from the University of Toronto. He is the co-director of cabinetmagazine.org and a VP of Technology at MTV Networks Online.