UNDERCOLOR | James Austin Murray

Series: Undercolor

(a selection)

Undercolor 11-24, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm)

Undercolor 13-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 15-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 17-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 8-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 10-24, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm)

Undercolor 12-24, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm)

Undercolor 14-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 16-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 7-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 9-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 6-60, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 48 x 60 in. (122 x 152 cm)

Undercolor 3-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 4-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Soul String, acrylic and oil on panel, 72 x 72 in. (182.9 x 182.9 cm)

Undercolor 72-1, acrylic and oil on panel, 72 x 72 in. (182.9 x 182.9 cm)

Undercolor 5, acrylic and oil on panel, 48 x 60 in. (122 x 152 cm)

Undercolor 1-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

I Never Knew Her Name, acrylic and oil on panel, 72 x 72 in. (182.9 x 182.9 cm)

Undercolor Landscape, acrylic and oil on panel, 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm)

Undercolor 6-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 2-30, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 30 x 30 in. (76 x 76 cm)

Undercolor 18-16, 2021, acrylic and oil on panel, 16 x 16 in. (41 x 41 cm)

Color theory is where science and art collide. Science tells us that color is a specific reflected spectrum. There are theories of color and psychological function, theories of color interaction, and we know that color perception is also cultural.

Black as a color represents the full absorption of the color spectrum and paradoxically the absence of any spectrum. Something we can witness in the black of the night sky, where light is no longer in the visible spectrum. Black is unique among colors.

As an artist, a portion of my studio practice is spent exploring new concepts and ideas outside of my apparent body of work. This is when I pull out my misfit toys and play.

My Undercolor paintings came from this practice as I attempted to push my work further from simply non-objective abstraction into the realms of portraiture and landscape abstraction. Something I was only able to accomplish to my satisfaction by playing black against color.

-James Austin Murray