Anton McMurray is an Australian artist renowned for his monumental sculptures in wood incorporating inspired forms from the natural world.
Anton was raised and continues to live on the forested slopes of Melbourne’s Dandenong Ranges beneath towering Mountain Ash, Messmate and lush Tree-fern gullies. This awe-inspiring environment aroused a curiosity and affection for the material that has become his principal medium. The tree and the natural world, present for Anton as both teacher and the subject that fuels his lines of enquiry, resulting in sculptures that champion natures mystery, intricate details, importance and marvellous structural triumphs.
His sculpture studies have engaged him with master woodcarvers around the world, including Canada, Japan and Papua New Guinea. In Australia he studied under celebrated Melbourne sculptors Bruce Armstrong and David Wilson at Prahran Faculty of Fine Art, completing a bachelor degree of fine art, at the Victorian College for the Arts.
Today Anton’s work is motivated by an innate concern for our natural world and a profound desire to commit his efforts towards its preservation, protection and celebration.
Feel free to contact Anton to learn more of his journey and discuss commission and exhibition opportunities.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
1998 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1997 International Studies, Emily Carr Institute of Fine Art, Vancouver
Awards and Residencies
2022 Winner Toorak Village Traders Award
2022 Winner Yarra Valley Arts / Yering Station Sculpture Award
2020 Family choice award, Montalto Sculpture Prize.
2019 Peoples choice award, Yarra Valley Arts Sculpture Prize.
2012-2013 Artist in Residence, Private Estate, Yarra Ranges, Victoria
2010 Westpac Award, Toorak Village Sculpture Exhibition
2003 Artist in Residence, Inami International Wooden Sculpture Symposium, Toyama, Japan
2000 Artist in Residence, Monash University, Mornington Peninsula and Caulfield campuses
1999 Artist in Residence, Arthur’s Seat Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.
1998 Artist in Residence, Vancouver Television, Vancouver, Canada
Solo Exhibitions
2008 Sleeping With Giants, PB Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Into The Wild, Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, Victoria
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Montalto Sculpture Prize, Red Hill, Victoria
Big Sculpture Prize, St. Kilda, Victoria
Yering Station / Yarra Valley Arts Sculpture Prize, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Toorak Village Sculpture Exhibition, Victoria
2020 Montalto Sculpture Prize, Red Hill, Victoria
2019 Yering Station Sculpture Prize, Yarra Valley, Victoria
2014 McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
2012 McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
2010 McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Toorak Village Sculpture Exhibition, Victoria
2009 Lorne Sculpture Exhibition, Lorne Foreshore, Victoria
Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Burwood, Victoria
Toyota Community Spirit Sculpture Show, Port Melbourne, Victoria
2008 Sculpture By The Sea, Bondi, Sydney
Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize, Queensland
Montalto Sculpture Prize, Red Hill, Victoria
2006 Montalto Sculpture Prize, Red Hill, Victoria
2004 Montalto Sculpture Prize, Red Hill, Victoria
2002 Sculpture By The Sea, Bondi Beach, Sydney
Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza, Victoria
2001 Yering Station Sculpture Prize, Yarra Valley, Victoria
Moreland Sculpture Prize, Coburg, Victoria
East Coast Sculpture Prize, Thursday Plantation, NSW
2000 Moreland Sculpture Prize, East Brunswick, Victoria
1999 Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, Combined show with Tiriki Onus
1998 No holds Barred II, Stripp Gallery, Fitzroy, Victoria
Max Bell Community Arts Gallery, Geelong
1997 Emily Carr Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Stripp Gallery, Fitzroy, Victoria
Commissions
2021 ‘Wurun’, collaboration with Simone Thomson, Melton Secondary College, Victoria
2015 Mr Percival (Pelican), Safety Beach Foreshore, Mornington Peninsular
2008 Silent Partner, Elgee Park Winery and Sculpture Park, Mornington Peninsula
2007 Last Rites, Queensland, private collection
2006 Great Crocodile, Bonnie Doon, private collection
2005 Monotreme, Toronto, private collection
2004 Forest Sculpture, Olinda, private collection Pelican, Lysterfield, private collection
2003 Children’s Play Sculpture, Safety Beach Foreshore, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
2002 The Hippo Seat, Mont Albert, public collection
Public Collections
Monument to the First International, Mc Clelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, Langwarrin, Victoria
Crocodile, Inami Sculpture Park, Toyama prefecture, Japan
The Music Poles, City of Knox, Bayswater Park, Victoria
Monuments to Nature, Shire of Yarra Ranges, Upwey, Victoria
Atrium Series, City of Knox Council Chambers, Victoria