Meg  Lionel  Murphy

Picasso said women are either doormats or goddesses. My work plots the path of the doormat to the goddess. I paint a far, far away land where violence magically transforms femme bodies into a monstrous size so that their pain must be seen, felt, and reckoned with. The artwork swings between moods of horror, ecstasy, and escape. I want to bring the viewer to the lowest of lows and highest of highs, to mirror what it feels like to battle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder—something I struggle with daily after my experience of extreme domestic violence.

Meg Lionel Murphy works from rural Wisconsin, where she produces paintings for exhibition in galleries and museums throughout the US. Her recent solo shows include “Ecstasy & Escape at the Swan Song Motel” with the Musuem of Wisconsin Art (Milwaukee), “Traumatica Dramatica” at The Untitled Space Gallery (New York), “Interior Violence” at CoExhibitions Gallery (Minneapolis), and solo booths with SPRING/BREAK Art Show (New York and Los Angeles). Recent group shows include “Talk Back” at the Charles Allis Museum (Milwaukee). “10 @ 10” at The Wisconsin Museum of Art (West Bend), “Pleasure Garden” at Laurie Shapiro Gallery (Los Angeles), and “In Her World” at Voltz Clark (New York). She is a recipient of Gener8tor Art grant and accelerator program. Her painting has been acquired by the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Murphy’s artwork has been featured in a variety of publications, including Hyperallergic, Artnet News, and Forbes.