Wendy McMurdo

Wendy McMurdo (born 1962) specialises in photography and digital media. In 2018 she was named as one of the Hundred Heroines, an award created by the Royal Photographic Society to showcase global female photographic practice.[1]

Wendy McMurdo
Born1962 (age 60–61)
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityScottish
EducationUniversity of Westminster
Goldsmiths, University of London
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Edinburgh College of Art
Known forart, contemporary fine art, photography, digital media

Early life and education

McMurdo was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She attended Edinburgh College of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where she first became interested in photography.

Career

Her work centres around the relationship between technology and identity and she has produced several influential bodies of work which explore this theme.

In the mid-1990s her first one-person show In a Shaded Place – the digital and the uncanny [2] was toured extensively by the British Council. Her subsequent exhibition at the Centro de Fotografia Universidad de Salamanca in 1998 resulted in the publication of the first monograph[3] on her work. She has been included in numerous group shows, including Unheimlich, curated by Urs Stahel at the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, Scanner, curated by Lawrence Rinder at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, California, The Anagrammatical Body – The Body and its Photographic Condition at the Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, Austria, and Only Make Believe – Ways of Playing, curated by Marina Warner at Compton Verney, UK.

Her work has been commissioned by the Science Museum, London and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, and is in a number of collections including that of the Fotomuseum Winterthur, the British Council, agnès b, the National Galleries of Scotland and Seattle's Henry Art Gallery, Washington, USA. Her work has been the subject of documentaries for BBC Two, Channel 4[4] and the National Galleries of Scotland.[5]

Other commissions include Indeterminate Objects (classrooms) for The Media Wall, The Photographers' Gallery, London, October 2017 - January 2018; a site-specific project "The World in London" for The Photographers' Gallery exhibited during the 2012 Summer Olympics, and The Skater [6] for the Ffotogallery in Wales, 2009, to celebrate 30 years of photographic commissioning.

Recent exhibitions include: "Chat Room" (2019), curated by Hining Ye for the 2021 Shangahi Photofair;[7] newly commissioned work "Night Garden" as part of Florilegium curated by Emma Nicholson, the inaugural biennial exhibition marking the re-opening of Inverleith House at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh;[8][9][10] "On aime l’art...!!" from the Collection Lambert, in Avignon, France (2017);[11] "Gravitas", curated by Christiane Monarchi for Photo50[12] at the London Art Fair, 2017; DATA RUSH at the Old Sugar Factory in Groningen for the 22nd Noorderlicht International Photofestival; "Digital Play : Wendy McMurdo Collected Works 1995 - 2012" at Street Level Photoworks,[13] Glasgow, as part of GENERATION - 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, a programme of exhibitions across Scotland in 2014. Her short film "Olympia" was showcased by Onedotzero as part of their Future Cities touring programme in 2011/2012. A retrospective of her photographic work was shown at the Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts, University of Bath in 2011/2012.

She is a senior lecturer on the MA Photography programme at Falmouth University. In 2015, McMurdo was awarded a PhD degree by publication from the University of Westminster for her work exploring the impact of the computer on photography and identity formation.[14] She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). In September 2018, McMurdo was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) as Member (Elect).[15]

Previous roles include: board member for Stills Gallery[16] (2015-2020) and New Media Scotland[17] (2011-2014); Jill Todd Photographic Award[18] specialist advisor and judge (2011-2014); Royal Society of Edinburgh[19] Young People’s Committee member (2010-2014), and Travelling Gallery[20] advisory panel member (2013-2014); external assessor for MA Photography Review, Central Saint Martins, London (2015); Senior Assessor/Lecturer for the Open College of the Arts, UK; External Validator (BA Photography) University of Chester, UK (2015); Lecturer, School of Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, UK (1990-2002) and Lecturer, School of Fine Art, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh UK (1985-1897).

Awards
Helen, Backstage, Merlin Theatre (The Glance) 1996
  • Henry Moore Fellow (1993–1995)
  • Leverhulme Research Fellow (2000-2002, 2010-2012)
  • Creative Scotland Awards (2002, 2014)
  • Honorary Research Fellow, European Centre for Photographic Research, University of Wales (2010)
  • One of the Hundred Heroines by the Royal Photographic Society (2018)
  • RSA Edinburgh Printmakers Publishing Award (2020)

Publications
  • Gilda Williams (Ed) (1997). Strange Days – British Contemporary Photography. Charta Press. Milan
  • David Brittain (Ed) (1999). Creative Camera: Thirty Years of Writing. Manchester University Press. Manchester[21]
  • Centro de Fotografia, Universidad de Salamanca (1998, 2000). Wendy McMurdo. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. Spain
  • Charlotte Cotton (2004). The Photograph as Contemporary Art (World of Art). Thames & Hudson. London
  • David Campany (Ed) (2007). Art and Photography (Themes & Movements). Phaidon Press Ltd. London
  • Daniel Rubinstein (2009). Digitally Yours; The Body in Contemporary Photography. The Issues in Contemporary Culture and Aesthetics, 2&3. pp. 181–195. ISBN 0955003725. University of the Arts. London[22]
  • Ffotogallery (2009). Wendy McMurdo: The Skater. Ffotogallery. Wales.
  • Sylvia Wolf (2010). The Digital Eye: Photographic Art in the Electronic Age. Prestel. New York
  • Hilde Van Gelder & Helen Westgeest (2011). Photography Theory in Historical Perspective: Case Studies from Contemporary Art. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester, UK
  • David Hopkins (2021). Dark Toys: Surrealism and the Culture of Childhood. Yale University Press. UK Europe and Overseas
  • Various (2021). Nachbilder. Eine Foto Text Anthologie. Herausgegeben von der Plattform Kulturpublizistik der Zurcher Hochschule der Kunste und dem Fotomuseum Winterthur Spector Books.

References
  1. Hundred Heroines, The Royal Photographic Society, 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  2. Thompson, J. (1996). "Magical Mystories: Wendy McMurdo at the Site Gallery" mute, Issue 3. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
  3. Wendy McMurdo. Centro de Fotografia Universidad de Salamanca. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. 2000 [1998].{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. "The Mix: Express Yourself. Programme 2: Wendy McMurdo – Photographic dreamscapes," Channel 4. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  5. "Wendy McMurdo – The Digital Mirror," National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 25 March 2018
  6. Wendy McMurdo: The Skater. Ffotogallery Wales. Ffotogallery. 2009.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. "Behind the Scenes: Insights curator Yining He". Photofairs. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  8. Davies, Ashley. "Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers — from the seeds of flowers came growth". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  9. "Art review: Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers, Inverleith House, Edinburgh". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  10. "Inverleith House reopens in full bloom with 'Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers' | News & Press | Scottish Art News | Fleming collection". www.flemingcollection.com. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  11. "Collection Lambert". collectionlambert.com. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  12. Gravitas, Photo50, London Art Fair 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  13. Hopkins, D. (2014). Digital Play Wendy McMurdo Collected Works 1995-2012. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  14. "Children and computers : collected works (1995-2014)," British Library EThOs e-theses online service. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  15. Wendy McMurdo RSA (Elect), The Royal Scottish Academy, 26/09/2018. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  16. "Stills – centre for photography based in the heart of Edinburgh". stills.org. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  17. "New Media Scotland". mediascot.org. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  18. "Jill Todd Photographic Award". jilltoddphotoaward.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  19. "Royal Society of Edinburgh". rse.org.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  20. "Travelling Gallery". travellinggallery.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  21. Brittain, David (1999). Creative Camera: Thirty Years of Writing. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-5805-9 – via Google Books.
  22. http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/6239/1/digitally_yours.pdf
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