An Inaugural Solo Exhibition by Brandy “Blu” Murphy

Le Drip: The Uncontainable Sauce of Black Excellence is a series from Brandy "Blu" Murphy who is a mixed media artist, educator, and photographer residing in the Washington, D.C. area. This series is a tribute to the black community and celebrates the essence, beauty, and magic of this resilient and often undervalued group of people.

The focal point of each piece is a photographic portrait of Blu’s muse(s). Through collage, she has carefully and strategically infused both historic and current black figures. This infusion narrates a story rooted in Black culture and history. Blu also includes her graffiti tag, “jumbled” letters, in each piece that creates an opportunity for viewers to connect with how she sees words as a person with dyslexia. She paints outside of the frame and creatively allows “Le Drip” to ooze onto the frame as a representation of the undeniable and uncontainable sauce of black essence; that cannot be contained in boxes. The ingredients of the sauce include: our combined pain, triumphs, joys, strength, and swag. The use of an up-cycled hand painted frame directly correlates with the emotional trauma that has been suffered by disenfranchised individuals who have expressed feelings of being discarded, unnoticed, and deemed invaluable.

From this exhibition, Blu hopes to inspire and inform her viewers and also amplify the importance of recognizing black children as works of art and walking masterpieces.

VIP OPENING RECEPTION

2100 L ST NW @ THADDEUS STEVENS SCHOOL (IN PARTNERSHIP W/ AKRIDGE)

ARTIST BIO

Brandy “Blu” Murphy is artist, educator, creator born and raised in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Morgan State University, an HBCU where she studied Fine Arts with a focus on Mixed Media and was an award winning student. She has over a decade of teaching experience in low-income urban communities and is committed to amplifying the voices of a genre of people that are often undervalued, unappreciated and unseen.

“I see art everywhere I go, most importantly in my community. Everyone is a Work of Art”, she has said. “The goal is to create art that shows the beauty and value of people”. She is best known for capturing the innocence of her students through photography and utilizing graffiti, texture and color to share a story rooted in African American culture and history. She has been featured in The Washington Post, Architectural Digest, Washington city paper, DC Fray magazine and the Target Contemporary Gallery. Photography by Larry Lewis & Blu Murphy