oscar murillo
1986, Colombia
Oscar Murillo has developed a multifaceted and inventive art practice, which constantly probes questions of collectivity and shared culture, while being fundamentally connected to the affective qualities of different materials.
Murillo creates works with a social dimension, which exist at the border between performances and events. He has invited collaborators to participate in actions including walking through New York or travelling between UK cities carrying mateos (traditional papier-mâché figures made in Colombia), painting swathes of linen black in locations around the world, or holding a party for the cleaning staff of London’s Serpentine Galleries. Since 2013, for the durational project Frequencies, Murillo organised for over 100,000 school students to have blank canvas fixed to their desks, allowing them to freely mark, draw and write on them over a period of months. The project has so far amassed an archive of over 40,000 examples from around the world. These nuanced projects involve others as participants, as opposed to merely viewers, and point to a perpetual curiosity into complex issues of global social and economic relations, community, and spectatorship.
At the same time, Murillo’s works possess distinct and arresting material qualities. He is known for large-scale paintings which combine fragments created at different times, in different locations and using a variety of techniques, notable for their use of expressive and energetic mark-making. Murillo is also recognised for creating immersive installations, combining materials such as draped black canvas; rock-like sculptures formed of corn and clay; rusted metal bed frames; and furniture including antique church pews. These experiential and unique works, which can often be found in unusual settings, such as inside functioning churches, schools or outdoors, are testament to the artist’s commitment to the affective power of material to convey complex meditations on contemporary society.
Oscar Murillo lives and works in La Paila, Colombia.
día de las aves migratorias, 2017
oil, oil stick and graphite on canvas and linen
104.33 x 102.36 in.
growth, 2017
oil and oil stick on canvas and linen
113.39 x 97.24 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2017
oil and oil stick on canvas and linen
64.96 x 82.68 in.
flight #85, 2018
pen, pencil, graphite and carbon on paper in perspex frame
16.5 x 12.17 in.
flight #86, 2018
pen, pencil, graphite and carbon on paper in perspex frame
12.17 x 16.5 in.
flight #87, 2018
pen, pencil, graphite and carbon on paper in perspex frame
12.17 x 16.5 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2018
oil and graphite on canvas
101.97 x 90.55 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2018
oil and graphite on canvas
82.68 x 64.96 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2018-2019
oil and graphite on canvas
82.68 x 64.96 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2019
oil and graphite on canvas
76.77 x 137.8 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2019
oil and graphite on canvas
96.46 x 76.77 in.
(untitled) catalyst, 2019
oil and graphite on canvas
82.68 x 64.96 in.
manifestation, 2019
oil, oil stick and graphite on velvet, canvas and linen
86.61 x 137.8 in.
(untitled) poetics of flight, 2019
intaglio print, graphite, ink and crayon on paper
25.12 x 17.64 x 1.5 in.
(untitled) poetics of flight, 2019
intaglio print, graphite, ink, and crayon on paper
25.12 x 17.64 x 1.5 in.
(untitled) ethics & aesthetics, 2020
oil, oil stick, graphite and spray paint on canvas
64.96 x 72.83 in.
(untitled) ethics & aesthetics, 2020
oil, oil stick, graphite and spray paint on canvas
72.83 x 64.96 in.
(untitled) ethics & aesthetics, 2020
oil, oil stick, graphite and spray paint on canvas
72.83 x 64.96 in.
(untitled) ethics & aesthetics, 2020
oil, oil stick, graphite and spray paint on canvas
64.96 x 72.83 in.
(untitled) ethics & aesthetics, 2020
oil, oil stick, graphite and spray paint on canvas
72.83 x 64.96 in.
(untitled) surge, 2020-2021
graphite and oil stick on canvas
19.69 x 23.62 in.
(untitled) surge, 2020-2021
graphite, oil, oil stick and spray paint on canvas
23.62 x 31.5 in.
(untitled) surge, 2020-2021
graphite, oil and oil stick on canvas
43.31 x 70.87 x 3.54 in.
study for social cataracts, 2021
blue mayan pigment, oil, oil stick, cardboard and polyethylene on wood
19.69 x 19.69 x .79 in.
Some of his most recent solo exhibitions include: Oscar Murillo: The Flooded Garden, Tate Modern, London (2024); Oscar Murillo: Masses, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium (2024);Together in our spirits, Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal (2023); catarata social, organized by Galería Elba Benítez in collaboration with David Zwirner, Iglesia de San Antón, Madrid (2023); Oscar Murillo: A Storm Is Blowing From Paradise, Scuola Grande della Misericordia, Venice (2022); Social Cataracts, KM21, The Hague, The Netherlands (2021); ética y estética, organized by kurimanzutto, Parroquia San Agustín, Tekantó, Yucatán, Mexico (2021); Frequencies, MAM Project 029, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2021); Oscar Murillo: Social Altitude, Aspen Art Museum (2019); Oscar Murillo: Horizontal Darkness In Search of Solidarity, Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany (2019); Oscar Murillo: Violent Amnesia, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, UK (2019); Oscar Murillo: Catalyst, Kukje Gallery, Seoul (2018); Capsule 07: Oscar Murillo, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2017); Condiciones aún por titular, Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2015); if I was to draw a line, this journey started approximately 400km from the equator, South London Gallery (2013); Oscar Murillo: Seven Postures, Fundação Manuel Antonio da Mota, Porto, Portugal (2012); Arepas y Tamales, Cole Contemporary, London (2011).
Murillo was one of four artists to win the 2019 Turner Prize and whose work was exhibited at Turner Contemporary, Margate, England the same year.
His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions, including: Check Mate(s), Casa SP Arte, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); Let Me Tell You a Story…Part I, Akara Art, Mumbai (2023); To bend the ear of the outerworld—Conversations on Contemporary Abstract Painting, Gagosian, London (2023); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York, NY (2022); To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA), MA (2022); Testament, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London (2022); Aesthetics, Tank Shanghai, China (2021); Art Is Still Here: A Hypothetical Show for a Closed Museum, M WOODS, Beijing, China (2020); HERE AND NOW: Transcorporealities, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2019); The Joy of Color, Mnuchin Gallery, New York, NY (2018); The Absent Museum, Wiels Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels, Belgium (2017); Don’t You Know Who I Am? Art After Identity Politics, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Belgium (2014); The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2014); Transforming the Known: Works from the Bert Kreuk Collection, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands (2013); Interim Show, Royal College of Art, London (2011); among others.
south london gallery presents the show is over curated by gabi ngcobo in dialogue with oscar murillo
saint louis art museum presents oscar murillo: currents 121
