Karl Murphy —
Karl Murphy is an Irish multi-disciplinary artist based in London whose practice spans sculpture, poetry, painting, and digital media. Engaging with the conditions of the Anthropocene, Murphy investigates the potential of the poetic as a transformative mode of thought, treating language as a tool for reconfiguring perception and articulating alternative relationships to reality.
Central to Murphy’s practice is an investment in pedagogy and public engagement. As Learning Officer at Saatchi Gallery, they develop participatory programmes that activate the conceptual underpinnings of exhibitions, fostering environments in which audiences can critically and creatively engage with contemporary art. These workshops prioritise accessibility and dialogue, moving beyond didactic models to support diverse forms of interpretation and expression.
Murphy frequently employs sound within sculptural contexts, creating works in which recorded voices emanate from within objects. These “speaking sculptures” operate as sites of encounter, prompting interaction and reflection. Found and organic materials—particularly those marked by decay or marginality, such as branches or fallen trees—feature prominently in their work, foregrounding questions around value, temporality, and ecological entanglement.
Drawing on folkloric traditions and mythic narratives, Murphy’s practice advocates for a shift from instrumental to reverential understandings of the natural world. Their approach is informed by thinkers such as John Moriarty, whose inquiry—“What are poets for in a destitute time?”—serves as a conceptual touchstone. Through this lens, Murphy situates art and language as critical tools for reimagining forms of coexistence in a time of environmental and cultural precarity.
EXHIBITIONS & COMMISSIONED PROJECTS
2025
- Artist Talk - Central Saint Martins
- The Murmuring Birds & This Is The Place (Organza Print + Poem) - Grafters Collective - Hypha Studios
- Love Letters to the Land (Workshops for Installation) & Artist Talk - Jersey Heritage - Claude Cahun Weekend - Jersey Museum
- Incantations (Installation) - INFERNO - 10 Years Anniversy - Colour Factory
2024
- Mausoleum, Portal – Group Show, Thresholds curated by Nancy Whiston – Acme Studios
- Now Imagine Something Greater – Group Show, Grafters Collective – Peckham Pelican
- The Wishing Tree, Portals and More – Curation, Group Show, I Extend My Arms – Capital House Gallery, Arthouse Jersey – Supported by Arts Council England and Jersey Heritage
- Co-Production – Homewards: Homelessness Reframed – The Royal Foundation – Saatchi Gallery
- Various Works (Paintings) – Things Are More Than They Are – Group Show – Acme Studios
- One Word Workshops (Workshop Series with Lily Tomkinson) – Saatchi Gallery
2023
- Wanting to Be – Curation, Communities Exhibition – Saatchi Gallery
- Now Imagine Something Greater (Print) – Objects of Dystopia – Group Show, Ron Henocq Fine Art
- Where the Heart Is – Installation, Group Show – Safehouse Peckham
- Creeping – Sculpture, Open Studios – Acme Studios
- As I Am – Curation, Communities Exhibition – Saatchi Gallery
- Songs for Wild Boys 2 – One-Month Poetry Residency – Aplpip Arts Dorset
- I Extend My Arms “Cahun and Response” – Curation, Sunken Installation – Arthouse Jersey (Initial Research Residency)
2022
- Incantations – Installation – Institute of Contemporary Art, London
- The Cruellest Month – The Boogaloo, Highgate – Monthly Poetry Residency
- Poetry Workshop – Keats House – One Word Workshop (with Lily Stevens)
- The Second Song – Installation – Open Studios
- Diagnostic Interventions with Jade Baldo – Performance – La Juan Gallery, Instituto Cervantes, Manchester
2021
- And at What Cost Came the Harvest – Site-Specific Installation – A Room With No View – London
- Warning Signs – Live Event/Group Show – INFERNO – Colour Factory, London
- The Bearer – Group Show and Auction – The Festival of Money – Church of Burn, The Cockpit Theatre, London
- Songs for Wild Boys – Residency – One-Month Residency – Aplpip Arts Dorset
2020
- It’s Been That Way Since – Group Show – Speaking in Tongues – The National Gallery, London Learning & National Programme
- 44 Interrogations – Online – Glastonbury Live Streams 2020, Commission for HE.SHE.THEY at Glastonbury Festival Online
- Beware Our Idle Masters – Online – The Lockdown Live Streams, The Institute of Contemporary Arts
- Love and War in Perpetual Motion – Group Show – ICA Inferno Takeover, Commission for The Institute of Contemporary Arts
- Don’t Leave Me This Way – Performance/Group Show – The TATE Exchange, Tate Modern
- Men Explain Paintings – Performance/Group Show – Central Saint Martins Open Studios
2019
- Witch – Residency – Harpies LGBTQ Strip Club, Metropolis
- The Thirteenth Station – Collaboration with Joseph Icaro, Live Show – INFERNO, Commission for The Yard Theatre, London
- They Would Eat You If They Could – Group Show, Curation and Solo Installation – The Junction
- Destroy the Mundane Avert the Gaze – Live Show – INFERNO Paris, La Java, Paris
- Destroy the Mundane Avert the Gaze – Live Show – Commission for INFERNO, London, The Yard Theatre, London
- What’s the Time Mr. Wolf? – Performance/Group Show – The TATE Exchange, Tate Modern
2018
- These Are Things That Kill People – Group Show, Collaboration with House of Health for INFERNO at The Yard Theatre, London
- The Terror of Men – Live Show – Commission for INFERNO at The Yard Theatre, London
PUBLICATIONS
2021
- Queer Bodies, Dystopian Age, and Poetic Revolution – Podcast – Letters Against Isolation with Constance Leterre, featured by Raid.r
- Balor’s Eye – Poem in Print, Raid.r Issue 3 – Entering the Physical Art Multiverse
- Thiird Magazine – There is Beauty in the Line of the Scar – Collaboration with Fayann Smith, Issue 5 – Defiant Beauty
- Please Don’t Piss on This – Publication, Work as Part of Collage for LGBTQ Feature with Moschino, Mission Magazine Issue 4
2020
- Interview with CCI – Online – The Creative Computing Institute, London
- How Queer Households Are Celebrating Pride During Lockdown, in Photos – Interview with Vice Magazine, UK
- Fat, Femme, Fag**t – Publication, Commission for Lewis G Burton, 10 Magazine
- Blood Surrogate – Feature for 10 Magazine
EDUCATION
2020 – 2021
- Diploma in Creative Computing – University of the Arts London, The Creative Computing Institute
2018 – 2022
- BA Fine Art – University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins – First Class Honours
2017 – 2018
- Foundation in Art and Design – The Cass School of Art and Design, London Metropolitan University