Brendan Murphy reckons everyone is going to fall in love with Boonji Spaceman

“There are two ways to look at it,” artist Brendan Murphy says in his Bostonian drawl down the phone from his studio in Palm Beach, Florida. “Any kind of publicity is good publicity when it comes to art. The other part of it is: it really has very little to do with me.” If he sounds a little baffled — he is. Murphy, a US artist, has never set foot in WA before. But when he flies in next week it will be into the middle of a swirling controversy of which he sits, unwittingly, at the centre of. It all started, Murphy explains, when he offered to gift one of his giant Boonji Spaceman statues, which usually sell for around $1.5 million, to Perth city ahead of his exhibition at Gullotti Galleries in Cottesloe. “It’s something that I’ve done before, so I just floated it out there,” he says. “And Paul (Gullotti of Gullotti Galleries) and Basil (Zempilas) the (Lord) mayor, they kind of put the idea together and presented it to me.” “I’ve done things similar when I’m working with a pretty substantial gallery. It’s not a bad play to do something nice for the city that you’re about to show in. But also, it was an idea that was created by the, I guess, former mayor, and it just all kind of came together and I went along with it. I thought it was a good idea.” The controversy has centred around the cost of installing Murphy’s Spaceman outside Perth’s council house. The price to ship the 7m-tall statue called Lightening to WA and install it is estimated to be between $150,000 and $250,000. Critics of the move say the council failed to properly consult their own arts advisory group about the suitability of the piece. They also argue the money would be better put toward restoring the artwork that previously stood outside council house called Ore Obelisk or the Harmony of Minerals but better known as The Kebab. The Kebab has been on display in Perth since the 1970s and represented the expansion of mining exploration in WA in the 1960s. It was put into storage in 2021 after it was deemed unsafe. Critics, including philanthropist Janet Holmes a Court, have said it’s an insult to replace a local, iconic artwork with a statue from an international artist. Although Murphy argues his nationality is irrelevant. “The goofy thing is, I’m an artist. I’m not an American artist, I’m an artist. It doesn’t matter where the f... I’m from, you know?” Murphy says. “If someone puts (up) a piece of art and they’re local … it doesn’t matter. It’s art. You don’t listen to a song and say, ‘Oh, I like that song because he’s from the city’, you know? It’s good and it touches you, that’s what’s important.” “It sounds like there may have been some mistakes made,” he concedes. “I don’t know if that’s true, but for me, I was like ‘I’ll take a shot, this sounds great’. And the mayor was a big part of that.” This isn’t the first time Murphy has gifted a Boonji Spaceman. (Boonji is a word he made up which he says means: “positive energy derived from creativity”.) The giant astronauts can be found in Antigua, London, Houston, Dubai and Oslo. Murphy says he was drawn to the idea of having his work touching down in the isolated city of Perth. “(I was) embracing the unknown. I literally chose the most remote city. My wife is like, ‘Geezus! You have to go to Perth? Could it have been in Melbourne in January, we could at least go to the tennis!’ He laughs. “Leave it to me to find the most remote gallery and city. And that’s why I’m laughing. Now for it to be controversial. It’s like, I didn’t need to do this! I’m really interested in the city, I’m interested in the adventure. I think it’ll be great.” Murphy says if there is one constant in his life it is adventure. He was a professional basketballer in Germany in his 20s before embarking on a career in finance, working on Wall Street in New York. After the events of 9/11 prompted some soul-searching he decided to follow his dream to become an artist. “I’ve made a lot of pivots in life, which I don’t recommend to everybody but I am very comfortable in the unknown,” he says. “My actual job is just making things. I have no real idea of where it is going or where it will live. I don’t think how I’m wired is for everybody.” Murphy says his love of risk-taking is what has inspired the spaceman motif which is a recurring theme in his work. “The spaceman as an iconic figure is inspirational around the world, right? And the interesting thing is, it has very little to do with space. As far as I’m concerned, my work has everything to do with embracing the unknown, taking the next step. “I think — I know — when those pieces go up, people feel that. It’s quite a positive reaction. Norway has really taken ownership (of their Boonji Spaceman). It’s right in the middle of Oslo, and it’s become kind of a landmark.” Murphy says his job as an artist is to “bring people together”. A mission statement he is sticking to in the face of the inescapable politics — in Australia and the US. He recently showed work at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, an organisation which has been under scrutiny after US President Donald Trump sacked half the trustees on the board, leading to some US artists refusing to perform or show work there. “My job is to bring people together. I was interviewed at the Kennedy Center and this guy tried to pigeonhole me with this and that I said, ‘Listen, my job is to bring people together’. That’s what an artist’s job is. And I take it very seriously. “I don’t care about somebody’s political views or anything. I’m interested in how we can connect as people, you know? How can I connect with somebody? What do we have in common? That’s me personally and also I think it is the role of an artist.” It’s this philosophy Murphy is bringing to WA when he flies into Perth in a few days time to oversee the final installation of Boonji Spaceman and attend the opening of his exhibition. And he says he believes once the spaceman lands he will become a much loved part of our city landscape. “I understand that there’s some controversy in Perth. If I do my job, I’m going to bring everybody together with positive energy. That’s my job as an artist. You come in there, put up something beautiful that everyone can connect with. And when I leave, they’ll say, ‘You know what? Okay. That’s pretty cool’.” Brendan Murphy: Life is Electric is at Gullotti Galleries from May 22 to July 10. The Boonji Spaceman Lightening will be unveiled at Stirling Gardens next weekend and will be on display for a year.