Someone on my Facebook page commented about my description of some paintings, “When did you become so angry?” The question itself makes me angry, so I suppose I cannot deny that I am angry. I’d like to explore what role anger plays in my painting, and where my anger comes from. First off – am I really angry? Personally, I don’t think so. I don’t feel unpleasant or uncomfortable when talking about my art. I do have certain opinions about Jesus and about Christianity, which are strongly supported by reason and evidence, and holding these opinions does not make me …

At an exhibit today I had a request for rough, impressionistic of abstract art. A repeat buyer and patron of the gallery mentioned that she and her friends would probably buy something if it were a different style; and since I paint clean, surrealistic figures, the rough abstract impressionism is just about as different as I could get. It’s a strange idea: the obvious answer would be “no, thank you”; paint what inspires you, because no serious art collector is going to buy works that were churned out just to make sales. However, there are practical considerations. I did some …

Tomorrow I’m opening a solo exhibition in Tainan, Taiwan. This year has been a big step forward. I did most of my paintings when I was younger, and then stopped, foolishly, because I didn’t want to paint any more until I started selling the old ones. The folly in that statement is just one of the things I’ve learned recently, and I’m not determined to paint, and keep painting, even if they canvases pile up so much they have to be used as furniture. Another thing I had trouble with was pricing, and I just learned last week a valuable …

I found a great resource – it’s the ‘art in Asia’ website (http://www.artinasia.com). Focusing on 7 majors cities (Honkong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore), Art in Asia has up to date event listings so you can know which artists are displaying at which galleries, and when. You can also browse the top contemporary Asian artists (currently 206) and get a feel for what’s going on in the Asian Art scene.

This August I attended “Art Taipei 2009″ (台北國際藝術博覽會), a massive 3 day contemporary art fair featuring established and emerging Asian artists from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and some other Asian countries. The event was part of our 4 day tour of contemporary Asian (Taiwanese) art and fashion, for the ‘Taiwan’s Best Trip‘ competition.  There were some truly great pieces there; it was inspiring for me and it will be a personal goal to be included in Art Taipei 2010 (or 11, 12, etc…) A lot of the paintings are shown in the video. 台灣當代藝術

I’ve recently become a contemporary Asian artist. Although I still use Western themes (especially religious themes and icons) I do so only to the extent that they can be found in Taiwan, interfering or interacting with Taiwanese culture. Moreover, I also use many images from Asian culture and specifically Taiwanese culture; ghost money, temple art, traditional Chinese characters… my art has become a commentary that in some ways can only be understood by Asian/Taiwanese viewers. Rather than single myself out, I’d like to become part of the ‘contemporary Asian art’ movement (which is a little challenging, because I’m white and …

I was just looking over the artwork featured in a big New York gallery… I’m not impressed. More than that, I’m almost sickened that what passes for art hasn’t changed in the last 10, or even 20, years. “Contemporary Art” should mean what’s new right now. Instead, contemporary art is a vague copy of modern abstract pieces. They are bold, they are bright, they have deep splashes of crimson. They are messy, textured, abstract, full of lines and squiggles and roughness. But very rarely do they evershowanything. They are not pictures of anything, they are really just a bunch of …

Apparently, a new study suggests that when humans feel discomfort or panic in the face of a nonsense (something that doesn’t make sense), they automatically refocus their brains on discovering and establishing more patterns; “this same sensation may prime the brain to sense patterns it would otherwise miss — in mathematical equations, in language, in the world at large.” Subjects were asked to read a ridiculous story, and afterward given some sequences of ‘random’ numbers. Those who had read the story’s pattern making ability increased by 30%! The urge to find a coherent pattern makes it more likely that the …

In order to build my web presence, every 3 months one of my Facebook fans will win a free poster of the painting they like best. All you have to do is become a fan, comment on the painting you like, and you may win a free print! Derek Murphy on Facebook //

This is a mural I did for my Senior High School in Tigard, Oregon. It was a ‘group project’, actually, so somebody else started on the tiger and some other things. But I came in with my messy, impressionistic style and then it didn’t look good because it lacked harmony… so the teacher asked me to just paint over everything. (Kind of rude of her, actually – but I was happy). I skipped many of my classes for a couple of months, hung out in the big art room before and after school, listening to music and painting. And I …