Landscapes, flora and fauna are heliotropes. Heliotropes are interesting ubiquitous verities found in nature. Like heliotropes, human truths, the ultimate story of our lives are also attracted to whatever feeds and nurtures us. This phenomenon is beyond a natural law; it is the inexplicable shape of our existence.
In my work patterns, layering, flowers, plants and figuration are metaphors for these blueprints of existence. The work itself is a result of an internal heliotrope following the transformation of a painting, drawing, sound installation, photograph, performance or collaboration through the process not unlike the phenomenon of natural laws. I approach process like a “code”, as a “personal paradigm” or descriptor of time and as a vehicle of evolution. Similarly the garden metaphor works as an expression of this code, a meditation on color events, focus and subjugation, air as breath and complexity as mystery. Finally the heliotrope is the expression of transformation, variation and a node where individual heliotropic identities collide and intersect.
The desire to make an image is a practice that helps me to describe our world. Interpersonal relations and our place on this planet are sacred yet also profane. My work is an expression of both, but one filtered through my experience. Yet defining through imagery, the very act of defining is a convergent process, one that is ultimately limiting. Human experience teeters between the definitions of clarity and the abstractness of experience. Our interactions are not unlike layers of heliotrope patterns that interrelate and resonate but are mutable, changeable and at times converge and others diverge, but they are always entwined within complex configurations.
Color and space are important. Color is also heliotropic. A painting changes in the way nature changes. Color is responsive and to one thing or another. It is much more important to respond than react. In art that favors concept, elements are also often responsive but occasionally reactive to current political and social ideologies that are important in the work.
The role of an artist must include a conscience. The need to say something, to offer a viewpoint for consideration is almost primal and also necessary. Works in sound or video add new dimensions to my pursuit, empowering the exploration of form. Much of this work investigates fixed ego identities and allows me to add unforeseen dimensions to my research and exploration of both idea and form. I believe an artist constantly seeks to unveil not only personal truths, but also the same truths that create the heliotropic nature of existence. Each new work mines a slightly new exploration or a miniscule facsimile of this nature. I consider this my journey, though admittedly, I favor the search over the “truth.”
Thomas Murray earned his Masters in Fine Arts degree at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 2004. He was born in Saint Petersburg Florida and is married to Jewelry/ Metalsmith Donna Mason Sweigart. The artist couple have collaborated several times over the past years and their own disciplines while entering into collaborative projects, most recently “Compersion” at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art in 2021.
Thomas and Donna moved to Glassboro, NJ in 2019 to work with Rowan University. Thomas is continuing his research with painting, sound, and installation.
2003
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
MFA, Painting and Drawing
1996
University of South Florida, Hillsborough County, FL
BS, Fine Art and Art Education
Magna Cum Laude
2016
44th International Art Show, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, TX
1st Place Painting Award
2000
Awarded Florida Artists Fellowship
2018
Arquetopia, Puebla, Mexico
2014
Arte Studio Ginestrella, Assisi, Italy
2016
"UTRGV Instructors Combine Works to Form Annual Exhibit", Brownsville Herald, Brownsville, TX
"GARDEN VIEW: Celebrating native plants and more", The Monitor, McAllen, TX, Oct. 8
"SURFACE TREATMENT: Artist’s talent comes alive in latest exhibit", The Monitor, McAllen, TX,
2014
Valley Life, “Murray’s Eden”, The Monitor, McAllen, TX
2013
“Open Season for Art”, Serena Pandos Gallery, The Monitor, McAllen, TX, Sept 9th,
SURFACE TREATMENT, “A Mad Mix”, The Monitor, McAllen, TX Feb 4th,
2012
SURFACE TREATMENT, “It’s Sacred”, The Monitor, McAllen, TX
2008
Texas Monthly
2007
The Monitor, McAllen, TX
Saint Petersburg Times
Weekly Planet
2006
Creative Loafing
2005
Saint Petersburg Times
2000
Art Papers
2014
"This is Our Garden", Catalogue, by Thomas Murray, ISBN-13: 978-1496008343
2009
“Painter” The Works of Thomas Murray” by Anthony Crisafulli, Twadell Press, ISBN 1449547001
Rio Grande Valley College, large scale mural
Leepa-Ratner Museum of Art, Saint Petersburg, FL
Rise Foundation, Savannah, GA
Canson Inc, 21 Industrial Drive, South Hadley, MA
Gulfcoast Art Museum, Largo, FL
Recently Purchased by Saint Petersburg College
Leiden, Holland
Tampa, FL
Arte Studio Ginestrelle, Assisi, Italia
Untitled, 13'x 66', acrylic directly on wall
Commissioned by Lumina Designs for RGV Careers
2019 - Present
Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
Lecturer, 3/4
2016 - 2019
University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, TX
Lecturer, Full Time
2010 - 2015
South Texas College, McAllen, TX
Instructor, Full Time
2009 - 2010
South Texas College, McAllen, TX
Adjunct Art Instructor
2009
South Texas College, McAllen, TX
Lecturer
2008 - 2009
University of Texas–Pan American, Edinburg, TX
Lecturer
2021
Visions of Arquetopia, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TX
2017
Porziuncola Centre Gallery, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
2016
Porziuncola, Upper Valley Art League, Mission, TX
2015
St. Francis, Beyond Arts Gallery, Harlingen, TX
2014
This is Our Garden, Morean Arts Center, Saint Petersburg, FL
This is Our Garden, North American Art Gallery, McAllen, TX
2012
Heliotropes, South Texas College, Center for Learning Excellence, McAllen, TX
The Garden, Serena Pandos Gallery, McAllen, TX
2010
Archetyptonics, Studio @ 620, Saint Petersburg, FL
Drawing, Divining, Manichaus Modern Art Space, McAllen, TX
2008
Garden, Manichaus Art Space, McAllen, TX
2007
First Name Only, Tampa Public Library, Tampa, FL
First Name Only, Saint Petersburg College, Saint Petersburg, FL
2006
Gait, TECO plaza, Tampa FL
2005
Name, Mine, Saint Petersburg Arts Center, Saint Petersburg, FL
Meaningfullessfullness, Tampa, FL
2004
Solo Exhibition, the Beck Gallery, Lutz, FL
Full Circle With Tangent, Saint Petersburg, FL
2003
First Name Only, The Walls, Albuquerque, NM
Flying Man, O’Neill’s, Albuquerque, NM
First Name Only, John Sommers’ Gallery, UNM, Albuquerque, NM
Hypercube, O’Neill’s Uptown, Albuquerque, NM
2001
Momente, Hyde Park Fine Arts, Tampa, FL
2000
Last Chance Texaco, Hyde Park Fine Arts, Tampa, FL
Large Scale Drawings, Saint Petersburg Arts Center, Saint Petersburg, FL
2022
New Now V, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2022
Paperworks, Powel Lane Fine Arts, Collingswood, NJ
2021
Brandywine Arts Festival, Wilmington, DE
2020
Online exhibition, ArtFrontGalleries
2018
Upper Valley Art League Members Exhibition, Mission, TX
2017
UTRGV Faculty Exhibition, Brownsville, TX
OVUNQUE PROTEGGI (Prayers and miracles), organized and curated by ArtSOB y Yanira Delgado in collaboration Ágora y la Gallery Atelier Casa Mexicana,and monica Ramirez Art, Santa Caterina D'Alessandria, Bitonto, Bari, Italy
2016
44th International Art Show, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, TX, Cande Aguilar Juror
Quinta Mazatlan, "Arte Nativo", McAllen, Texas
Art Undressed, ES Art Group, Miami, FL
Loteria, High Wire Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
2015
UVAL Tower Artists, McAllen, TX
Religious Icons, The Centennial, McAllen, TX
Nueve (9), Galeria 409, Brownsville, TX
Back and Forth, Silver Meteor Gallery, Tampa, FL
2014
La Frontera, with Yoli Cantu, Serena Pandos Studio Gallery
Mozart Madness, Video Installation, With William Buhidar, South Texas College
International Exibition in Assisi, Art Gallery Le Logge
Faculty Exchange Exhibit, Texas A&M Kingsville, TX
International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Le Logge, Assisi UNESCO World Heritage Site
Naked in New Hope, Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA
2013
Mozart Madness, Art/Stage Installation, With William Buhidar, South Texas College, McAllen, TX
Open Season for Art 2, Serena Pandos Studio Gallery, McAllen, TX
Naked in New Hope, Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA
Seven Point One, Gallery 409, Brownsville, TX
2012
Members Exhibition, Upper Valley Art League, Mission, TX
Au Natural, South Texas College, McAllen, TX
Smart Animals, North American Art Gallery, McAllen, TX
What is Sacred, Serena Pandos Gallery, McAllen, TX
Open Season for Artists, Serena Pandos Gallery, McAllen, TX
2011
Keitz, Leonard, Murray, New Faculty Exhibition, South Texas College, McAllen, TX
Eclectic Chaos IIA, West Orange, NJ
Third Coast National Juried Exhibition, K
Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX
Texas Biennial, Sans Serif, IMAS, McAllen, TX
Collaboration with Donna Mason Sweigart
Jim Toia, Islands, Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY
Dialogus, Invitational, Lima, Peru
2nd Annual McAllen Arts Council Fine Art Exhibition
25th Annual Juried exhibition, University of Texas, Tyler, TX
2009
Portraiture: In Three Movements, St. Petersburg, FL
New Life, Legacy Fundraiser for Mission Regional Medical Center
Upper Valley Art League Members Exhibition, Mission, TX
Buzz Willi-B, Brooklyn, NY
2008
Casa De Cultura, Reynosa, Mexico
Harvest, ArtHouse, McAllen, TX
Texas Tea, Netherlands
2007
War Paint, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
Art of Healing, Salt Creek Art Works, St. Petersburg, FL
1967, International Museum of Art and Science, McAllen, TX
Curator: Anthony Crisafulli
Douglas Clark Gallery, McAllen, TX
Best Artful Protest, for “Project Home”, Weekly Planet, Tampa Bay, FL
2006
6[5], Ybor City, FL
Interstices, Tampa FL
Caladan Gallery, Boston, MA
2005
Art After Dark, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
I Love St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL
2002
Beth-el Invitational Group Exhibition, St. Petersburg, FL
2000
New Graduate Group Exhibition, Raymond Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico, NM
Second Annual Juried Exhibition, Hyde Park Fine Arts, Tampa, FL
2021
Compersion, with Donna Mason Sweigart, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TX
2012
Jacques Bautiste, performance collaboration, Studio @ 620, St Peteresburg, FL
Juror, University of Texas Pan American Student Show, Mission, TX
2011
Leslie Elsasser, The Blind One Smiled as he Watched the Falling Snow, South Texas College, Mcallen, TX
Juror, University of Texas Pan American Student Show, Mission, TX
Crop, collaborative exhibition with Donna Mason Sweigart, Centre Gallery, Tampa, FL
2010
Sans Serif, collaborative exhibition with Donna Mason Sweigart, Studio 620, St Petersburg, FL
2009
Scored, music production and post-production; Independent Film “11 Years of Nightmares and a Wasted Lifetime” Director Roberto Collado
2008
Initiated and coordinated Juried Student Exhibition, Mission, Texas
Portraiture in 3 Movements, performance exhibit
2007
Project Home St. Pete, Homebound
2006
Co-curator: He Said, She Said, Hyde Park Fine Arts, Tampa, FL
2005
Co-director, "Y2k Survival Sale and Auction", Covivant Gallery, Tampa, FL
2003 - 2005
Co-curator; Cerebral Arts Festivals, multi-media collaborative events, St. Petersburg, FL
