Personal

Born in 1984, Birmingham, UK

Ruth Murray graduated from the Royal College of Art and was the Derek Hill Scholar at the British School at Rome in 2008. Her notable exhibitions include Northern Stars at the A Foundation, Saatchi's 4 New Sensations, The Creative Cities Collection at the Barbican and the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery. She was awarded an Elizabeth Greenshields grant in 2021 and 2024, she won the Jackson’s Painting Prize in 2020 and she was shortlisted for the Contemporary British Painting Prize in 2019, (subsequently elected as a member in 2023). Her work is in private and public collections worldwide, including UNESCO’s Creative Cities Collection, the Whitaker Museum and Manchester Art Gallery.

Education

2006 - 2008 Royal College of Art, MA Painting

2003 - 2006 Loughborough University, BA Fine Art

Awards

Elizabeth Greenshields Grant, second grant, 2024

DYCP Grant, Arts Council England, 2021

Elizabeth Greenshields Grant, first grant, 2021

Jackson's Painting Prize, Overall winner, 2020

Contemporary British Painting Prize, shortlisted, 2019

The Surgeons Prize, RBA Annual Exhibition, 2018

RBA Rome Scholarship, finalist, 2018

Tracing Paper Mentoring Scheme, Paper Gallery, Manchester, 2017 - 2018

People’s Prize Winner, BEEP Painting Biennial, 2014

Teddy Smith Award, NOAC, 2011

Petrov Prize, NOAC, 2009

Sheldon Bergh Award, For final show, Royal College of Art, 2008

Boundary Figurative Art Prize, Boundary Gallery, London, 2008

De Laszlo Prize, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, 2008

Stanley- Smith Scholarship, Royal College of Art, 2006 - 2007

Astra Zeneca Purchase Prize, Loughborough University, 2006

Alan Quiney Award, Royal Birmingham Society of Arts, 2004 & 2005

Residencies

International Women's Residency, Barossa Valley, Australia, 2024

C.R.E.T.A, Rome (April-May), 2022

Shoreside Huts, The Old School Gallery (October), 2021

NES Artsit Residency, Iceland (July), 2021

The United Sardine Factory (April), Bergen, Norway, 2019

The United Sardine Factory (Oct - Dec), Bergen, Norway, 2016

Kaus Australis, (July - Dec), Rotterdam, 2015

Pro Artibus, (Oct - Dec), Finland, 2010

GlogauAIR, (Jan - June), Berlin, 2010

Derek Hill Scholarship, British School at Rome (Oct - Dec), 2008

Solo Exhibitions

2022

Everything is Green, The Whitaker, Rossendale, Lancashire

2021

The Green Ray, Bankley Gallery, Manchester

2019

Good Morning Midnight!, Elysium Gallery, Swansea

Group Exhibitions

2024

Holding Time(two-person show with Linda Hemmersbach), Alison Richard Building, Cambridge University

Slow Painting, Plough Arts & Studio Kind, Devon

Assembly, Rye Creative Centre, Sussex

More News About Flowers, Division of Labour, Manchester

2023

Today, Curatorial Project located in North West England, SUMMER SHOW July 29th, Avenham Place, PR1 3SX.

Shuffle, Liverpool Biennial Fringe, MAKE, Liverpool

X, Contemporary British Painting, Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, until Saturday 17 June\ \ Rogue Women 2, Rogue Artists’ Studios, Manchester

Stage part of Pebble / Shoe, LLE Gallery and Kingsgate Project Space, London

Holding Time(two-person show with Linda Hemmersbach), Rogue Project Space, Manchester

London Art Fair, Second Act Gallery and A Modest Show, London Business and Design Centre

2022

Cool, Warm, Hot!, with Division of Labour, Worcester

Art Market Hamptons: A Modest Show Booth, New York

Contemporary British Portrait Painters, Annual Member's Show, The Department Store, Brixton, London

Jenny: Probably a Goddess, C.R.E.T.A, Rome, Italy

Fayre Share Fayre, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

Intersections, Paradise Works, Manchester

Bankley: 30 Years of Artist Led, Bankley Studios and Gallery, Manchester

PULP, Pitt Studio, Worcester

Habitat, Contemporary 6, Manchester

2021

Silent Disco, Greystone Industries, Ipswich

Without Borders, Elysium Gallery, Swansea Wales

North Sea Woman, The Old School Gallery, Alnmouth

2020

The New Light Art Prize, Scarborough Art Gallery touring to Tullie House Museum, Carlise, The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle and Bankside Gallery London until Nov 2021

BEEP Painting Prize, Elysium Gallery, Swansea Wales

The Harley Gallery Open, The Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire

2019

Contemporary British Painting Prize, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield and touring to ASC Gallery, London in 2020

Second Nature, The Portico Library, Manchester

Under British Skies, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk, Lancashire

Hang Out, Bankley Gallery (as part of Manifest Arts Festival), Manchester

PAINT, PS Mirabel, Manchester

MICRO, AIR Gallery, Altrincham

Portray / Portrait, PS Mirabel, Manchester

2018: Manchester Contemporary Art Fair (with Paper Gallery)

BEEP Painting Prize, Swansea, Wales

Tracing Paper, Paper Gallery, Manchester

RBA Annual Members Show, Mall Galleries, London

RBA Rome Scholarship (finalists Exhibition), The Framer’s Gallery, London

2018

Threadneedle Figurative Art Prize, Mall Galleries, London

2017

Sexy Boy Unites Salford, Paradise Works, Manchester

Echo Chamber, Bankley Studios and Gallery, Manchester

2016

Proverommet, Nobel Popel, Bergen, Norway

Paint By Number, Issue 2, launch and exhibition, Studio 24, Leeds

Process, Bankley Studios and Gallery, Manchester

Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Mall Galleries, London

Secret, Royal College of Art, London

2015

Dig-Dab (2 person show with Carolin Kastner), galerie Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Passengers, Kaus Australis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Oil Bennett Postcard Exhibition, Westminster School, London

2014

Bad Behaviour, Brixton East Gallery, London

BEEP, The Elysium Gallery, Wales

The Open West (with artist talk), The Wilson, Gloucestershire

Shortlisted for The Curwen Figurative Art Prize, London

2012

Creative Cities Collection, Barbican Exhibition Halls, London

BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London (touring to

Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh and

Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter)

Orchestrated, Cato Music, London

Islington Exhibits, The Old Firestation, London

2011

'Dialogues' 10th International Biennial of Contemporary Art, The Central Exhibition Hall 'Manege', St Petersburg, Russia

[GALERIA REGRESSO], Memorial do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

2010

Secret, Royal College of Art, London

Home Sweet Home, Werkstatt der Kulturen, Berlin

GlogauAIR, Glogauer Strasse, Berlin

Northern Stars, A Foundation, Liverpool

2009

Small is Beautiful, Flowers East, London

The National Open Art Competition Winner's Exhibition, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

Guesthouse, Galleria Progresso, London

Actual Size, Studio One, London

2008

Figure of 8, British School at Rome, Italy

Saatchi's 4 New Sensations, The Truman Brewery, London

Blank Canvas, 1-2 Carnaby Street, London

Pentimenti, Permanent Gallery, Brighton

Bank of America, Docklands, London

Boundary Figurative Art Prize, The Boundary Gallery, London

2007

Howie Street is Dead; long live Howie Street, Battersea, London

2006

"SPENT", 3 Colts Gallery, London

Celeste Art Prize, The Truman Brewery, London

Nationwide Mercury Music Art Prize, The Hospital Gallery, London

Press Articles & Publications

Holding Time, Different Worlds, Essay by Matthew Patterson, 2023

Jacksons Painting Prize 2020: Winner Announced, Jacksons Painting Blog

Contemporary British Painting Prize Shortlist, CBPP, 2019

Bigger and Better, Western Mail, 2019

Ruth Murray, Good Morning Midnight Preview, Buzz Magazine, 2019

Elysium Gallery, Swansea opens largest space yet, a-n Magazine, 2019

Now Showing #291: The week’s top exhibitions, a-n Magazine, 2019

Scary and Wonderful, Art to cause a mighty Kerfuffle, Oxford Mail, 2018

Catching up with the Tracing PAPER artists 2018, Paper Magazine, 2018

Art Review, BP Portrait Award, 2012, The Londonist, 2012

Apricot Jam, a collection of work created by Ruth Murray between 2009–2015. This book was a collaborative project between artists Ruth Murray and Carolin Kastner with an introductory text by artist and scholar Jacopo Benci (The British School at Rome). Available from TENT 2015-16

Goofy Teens, Beautiful Decay, 2011

Artwork of the week, Art in Liverpool, 2010

Not Waving or Drowning, Artspace, 2008

Artists and Illustrators, Artist Profile, September 2008

Pollocks London, Sketchbook, September 2008

Camden New Journal, April 2008

Cheltenham Illustration Awards Annual, 2007

Seawhite of Brighton Annual Catalogue, Front Cover, 2007

The Times, 'The Knowledge', Image of the Week, Nov 2005