Aileen Murphy's Surreal Tablescapes at Deborah Schamoni

Aileen Murphy's third exhibition at Deborah Schamoni in Munich, titled 'We must go under the wallpaper', runs from 9 January to 21 March 2025. The show features five new paintings centered on a table-like motif, rendered in rosé and pink tones with frequent animal imagery. Works such as 'snacks and sprite' depict a white cat with red eyes hovering over a blue line, disembodied arms, and dripping white paint. 'little red walls' shows a doll's house-like building, while 'invisible table' includes royal blue trees on cutout backgrounds and a yellow snake. Murphy, who finished her studies in 2018, incorporates detailed figuration for the first time, adding a surreal edge. The table serves as a stage for childlike, dreamlike visions and experiments with picture plane division. The exhibition title references Elizabeth Bishop's 1946 poem 'Sleeping on the Ceiling', which blends domestic interior, urban monument, and psychological landscape. Murphy's paintings juxtapose refined figuration with creamy strokes, monochrome surfaces with scraped lines, and humor with uncanny strangeness.