Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray was a Chicago born painter, printmaker who was featured in the Museum of Modern art in Whitney and San Francisco. Born to Irish Catholic parents, her mother was an aspiring artist herself and pushed her to go to the Chicago institute of Art after secondary school. She was Praised by the New York Times, and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Her art was heralded by the femenist movement at the time. She died in 2007 of lung cancer, The Bowery Poetry Club held two days of praise in her honor.

Her work was abstract, explosive and colourful. Working on different pieces of paper she would often cut out and paste together, she would blur the line between abstract expressionism and collage art. Her pieces often depicted small pieces of americana, such as coffee and a map of manhattan.  

Some of her other pieces are more displays of strong colour and shape, trying to pull a vague feeling out of the viewer. Her style is very emblematic of the pop art trends before her. 

Her flagrant breaking of traditional artistic rules continues to inspire younger artists to this day, whether it be through her strange canvas shapes or her playful use of colour shape and line. Her work leaves a unique impression that few others have been able to replicate.