Brendan Murphy is one of the most visionary and impactful artists of this century, and one of the top-selling and financially successful contemporary artists in the world. His monumental sculptures and emotionally charged paintings reach for the forces that quietly govern a life, love, fear, ambition, doubt, and belief, translating them into a visual language of handwritten formulas, equations, and single words that say what feeling usually leaves unspoken.
Murphy came to art late and without a map. He played professional basketball in Europe and traded on Wall Street before September 11, 2001, changed the course of his life. Living in New York at the time, he lost friends in the attacks and walked away from finance to paint, teaching himself with guidance from Eric Fischl, David Salle, and Ross Bleckner. The early years were lean. He worked from a 400-square-foot studio in SoHo, slept in his car for stretches, and kept going. In 2014 he sold Solfire, the tennis apparel company he had founded almost by accident, and for the first time supported his family through his art alone.
Today Murphy works with more than twenty galleries internationally and his public sculptures can be seen all over the world. His monumental installations, from the BOONJI Spaceman to the LOVE MATTERS…Everywhere bear, stand in cities from Cleveland to Perth, his large-scale paintings anchor major collections worldwide, and his seven-foot tribute to Rafael Nadal anchors the champion's flagship academy in Mallorca.
In 2021 he created the Boonji Project, the largest primary NFT sale in history. In 2026 he launched Love Matters... Everywhere, a global public art initiative whose chrome, formula-covered bears carry a single message into city squares, beginning with the twelve-foot Loretta beneath The Vessel at Hudson Yards in New York.
His paintings and sculptures are held in private collections worldwide, among them those of Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, LeBron James, Ambassador Nicole McGraw, Peter Brant, Bracken Darnell, Ryan Gosling, Warren Buffett, and more.
In 2026, Brendan Murphy was selected by the U.S. Department of State's Office of Art in Embassies as the featured American artist for the nation's 250th anniversary. He is a central presence in Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy, a museum exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C., open to the public from August 1 through October 18, 2026. For it he debuts two major works: Freedom 250, a monumental two-piece oil painting on canvas measuring 72 by 96 inches, created to reflect on 250 years of American history, creativity, and culture; and a 23-foot BOONJI Spaceman installation sited in the heart of the nation's capital.
Solo Shows, Art Fairs and Public Installs:
2026
Install of 23ft Spaceman Sculpture "Serve the Flag" in Washington, D.C. (August 2026)
12ft Love Matters Everywhere Bear install at Hudson Yards, NYC (May 2026)
Solo Show - "Gravity is Optional" - Pellas Gallery, Boston
2025
22ft Boonji Spaceman titled "Lightning" installed in Perth May 2025
Solo Show - "Life is Electric" - Gullotti Gallery in Perth, Australia
22ft Boonji Spaceman installed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
FWD diamond spaceman & other works displayed at the Four Seasons Hotel
in Riyadh, KSA
2024
Art Miami + Art Context
Solo Show - Ahlam Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Silo Ridge Install - 7' steel sculpture
Solo Show - District Gallery, Cleveland
Solo Show - "Complete Control" - Gallerie Fine Art, Oslo in June
2023
Unveil of 7'- Foot "VAMOS" sculpture at the Rafa Nadal Academy, Majorca
Solo Show - DTR, Boston
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary - Carousel Fine Art
2022
Install of 13'- Foot Boonji Spaceman at the Minute Maid Park Stadium, Houston
Solo Show - "LFG" - 7to8 Gallery in Hamburg, Germany
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary - Nicole McGraw Fine Art
2021
Install of 19-Foot Boonji Spaceman - The Arx, London
Art Miami - Nicole McGraw Fine Art
Diamond Boonji Spaceman Unveil - Saks Fifth Avenue, NY
Solo Show - Samuel Owen Gallery, Nantucket
Install of 22-Foot Boonji Spaceman - Hodges Bay, Antigua
Norton Museum of Art - Sotheby's Online Auction
2020
Art Miami Virtual - Contessa Gallery
Solo Show - "96% Stardust" - Haviland Reed
Solo Show - "Timing is Everything" - Nicole Henry Fine Art
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary - Contessa Gallery
2019
Art Miami - Contessa Gallery
Solo Show - "Internal Reflection" - Contessa Gallery, Cleveland
Solo Show - "RBTH" - Maddox Gallery, London
Art Central Hong Kong - Maddox Gallery
Art Palm Beach - Contessa Gallery
Art Wynwood - Contessa Gallery
2018
Art Palm Beach - Contessa Gallery
Art Wynwood - Contessa Gallery
Solo Show - Contessa Fine Art Gallery, Palm Beach
Art New York - Contessa Gallery
Art Market Hamptons - Contessa Gallery
Art Miami - Contessa Gallery
2017
Solo Show - “The next step” - Monika Olko Gallery, Sag Harbor
Solo Show - "From here to the moon” - Art:ig , Munich
Palm Beach Art Fair - Nicole Henry Fine Art
2016
Solo Show - “Bloom” – Monika Olko Gallery , Sag Harbour, NY
“Lets take a walk” – Family House, San Francisco
Solo Show - “Stay” – Galleria Ca’ D’ Oro’, New York City
“ Nole XL” – Unveil at the Rio Museum of Modern
2015
“Punks and Poets” – Event Farm, Santa Monica, CA
Solo Show - “Situations” – KM Fine Arts, Los Angeles CA
2014
Open House at Eagles Watch studios
2013
Solo Show - Art in Motion, 483 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Solo Show - Art in Motion, Ireland Galleries, Toronto, Canada
Solo Show - Love and all her friends, 483 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012
“Lovers and thieves”, Costas Gallery , Art Basel, Miami, FL
“Salute to Joe Strummer”, Atelier Building, Manhattan NY
“The beat my heart skipped”, Village Hotel, Yountville , CA
2011
“Standing still under the Waterfall”, Solfire Roving Gallery, Miami , FL
“Chasing Butterflies”, Solfire Roving Gallery, New York, NY
2010
Open house at Raven’s Eye Studios, Malibu, CA
2009
“To the end of the earth and back again” – Solfire Roving Gallery, Calgary, CA
“To the end of the earth and back again” – Solfire Roving Gallery, Southampton, NY
“To the end of the earth and back again” – Solfire Roving Gallery, STK , NY, NY
“To the end of the earth and back again” – Solfire Roving Gallery, ICON , Miami FL
2008
“The Magic Garden” – Palm Galleries, Boca Raton
2007
“What its like beyond the moon”, Valmorbida Gallery , NY, NY
2006
“Beyond Infatuation” – K.H . Gallery , New York, , NY
Open House studio, Culver City, Los Angeles, Ca
Solo Show, Neue Gallery, Berlin Germany
Brendan Murphy Group Shows:
2016
Southampton Art Fair, Southampton, New York
2015
Art Miami, KM Fine Arts
2014
Art Miami, KM Fine Arts
Silicon Valley Art Expo, KM Fine arts, San Jose, CA
2013
Silicon Valley Art expo, 483 Gallery, San Jose, CA
2007
Scope, Art Basel, Gallery 10g, Miami, FL
Scope, Southampton, Gallery 10g, Southampton, Ny