Catherine Murphy: Recent Work | Sadie Coles HQ
The veteran American painter Catherine Murphy’s current exhibition at Sadie Coles is made up of five paintings, each focusing closely on objects from her surroundings. Her obstinate realism once placed her in the deeply unfashionable tradition of still life. Her viewpoint was entirely bridge-and-tunnel, sometimes painting the Manhattan skyline from Hoboken, New Jersey.
Over recent decades, her work has moved away from direct observation or recognisable places, towards odder and more off-kilter framings of everyday objects and scenes. She focuses on overlooked and unexpected viewpoints. The compositions are partial and cropped, the colour heightened.
‘Nine Over Nine’ (2024)
My favourite was Nine Over Nine, a view through a sash window at snowy ground, facing downwards. The wooden grid of the sash window is outlined in virulent green.
Elsewhere, there was a close up of a yellowing rumble drier. Another of Polaroids laid out on a flat surface. A third showed two views of a woman wearing tartan.
A reference book in the gallery, published by Skira, shows a long career. I’m impressed at how unreflective her paintings have become, in every way. The matt oil paint reflects nothing. There is no meaning to find. Oddly pleasurable.
Catherine Murphy: Recent Work is at Sadie Coles HQ (London). 02 September - 07 November 2026