Murray James Turpin
Murray James Turpin (b. 1982) is a South African artist who works across multiple media to explore various themes, including ideas around escapisms, drug addiction, the internet and religion. In more recent works, he has also started to explore ideas around excess and memory, reconstruction and refusal. In November 2025,the artist came into the David Krut Workshop for his first collaboration, where he created a series of nine cyanotype-based works on paper.
Murray James Turpin (b. 1982) received his BA Fine Art (Honours) Degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and has since participated in numerous local exhibitions at spaces such as the Goodman Gallery, Everard Read / Circa, Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Wits Art Museum, Latitudes Center for the Arts and GUS (Gallery University Stellenbosch), Stellenbosch. He has also participated in several international exhibitions in France, Germany, Netherlands, and Morocco.
Turpin currently directs a Studio complex and Residency Program called Studio Grey, and is the co-director of kumalo | turpin, which are all based in Johannesburg. Notable solo exhibitions include “Channelling the Material'' with Hazard Gallery, Johannesburg (2017) ; “Take Me Apart” at No End Contemporary, Johannesburg (2019) and “All Empires Fall” at AVA Gallery, Cape Town (2022). His most recent group shows include “Mass” at Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg (2021); “A cloud” at Gallery 2, Johannesburg (2021); “A Hook” at Studio Nxumalo (2022); “Getting it Wrong” at No End Contemporary, Johannesburg (2024); and “Pro Forma” at Latitudes Center for the Arts, Johannesburg (2025).
Turpin has taken part in residencies including BijlmAir, Amsterdam in 2012, Queens Collective, Marrakech in 2019 and Floating Reverie Online “Special Covid Edition” 2020. His work has been exhibited at art fairs including Investec Cape Town Art Fair and FNB Joburg Art Fair, with the most recent being his participation in “ANTI BOOTH” by CHURCH Projects at Cape Town Art Fair in 2023 and the Brooklyn Art Print Fair, Brooklyn, USA in 2026 with David Krut Projects. Notably his work can be found private and public collections, including the Le Musée du RETARD / the DELAY MUSEUM in Copenhagen; Ellerman House Collection in Cape Town; Linda Givon Collection, Play Braamfontein Collection and the Wits Art Museum Collection, all to be found in Johannesburg. His work has recently been published in “Live, Learn, Create... Repeat. BijlmAIR: 25 Years Artists in Amst
In November 2025, Turpin approached the David Krut Workshop (DKW) about working with them to create a small series of cyanotypes. These cyanotypes made use, as well, of vinyl collage. The images for these collages came from the artist’s personal archive of images collected from South African and international art, design, music and culture magazines over the past two decades. Through these cyanotype collages, Turpin seeks to “think through memory, through excess.”
