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.
telegram, 2013-2024 oil, oil stick, ballpoint pen, fountain pen, graphite, felt tip pen, highlighter pen, permanent marker, paint, crayon, staples, natural pigments, debris and other mixed media on canvas, 51 x 69 cm
manifestation, 2024, oil, oil stick, spray paint, dirt and graphite on canvas and linen, 150 x 140 cm
manifestation, 2023-2024, oil, oil stick, spray paint, dirt and graphite on canvas and linen, 270 x 270 cm
telegram, 2013-2024, oil, oil stick, ballpoint pen, fountain pen, graphite, felt tip pen, highlighter pen, permanent marker, paint, crayon, staples, natural pigments, debris and other, mixed media on canvas, 67 x 64 cm
(untitled) the institute of reconciliation, 2014-ongoing, mixed media on canvas, 94 x 127 cm
(untitled) yoga, 2014, oil, oil stick, spray paint, graphite and dirt on canvas, 235 x 220 cm
(untitled) poetics of flight, 2019
intaglio print, graphite, ink and crayon on paper
25.12 x 17.64 x 1.5 in.
flight drawing (casa tomada lomas de chapultepec), 2023, japanese paper and pen, 31 x 43 cm
surge (poetics of flight), 2024, intaglio print, graphite, ink, marker pen, crayon and oil on paper, 57 x 38 cm
study for social cataracts, 2021, blue mayan pigment, oil, oil stick and spray paint on canvas, 122 x 140 cm
social cataracts, 2021, oil, oil stick and spray paint on canvas 230 x 340 x 3.5 cm
(untitled) surge, 2020-2021
graphite, oil and oil stick on canvas
43.31 x 70.87 x 3.54 in.
installation view oscar murillo: spirits in the swamp, museo tamayo, mexico city, 2025. photo: reinis lismanis
installation view oscar murillo: spirits in the swamp, museo tamayo, mexico city, 2025. photo: reinis lismanis
installation view oscar murillo: spirits in the swamp, museo tamayo, mexico city, 2025. photo: reinis lismanis
installation view oscar murillo: espíritus en el pantano, marco. museo de arte contemporáneo de monterrey, 2025. courtesy museo marco.
installation view oscar murillo: espíritus en el pantano, marco. museo de arte contemporáneo de monterrey, 2025. courtesy museo marco.
installation view oscar murillo: espíritus en el pantano, marco. museo de arte contemporáneo de monterrey, 2025. courtesy museo marco.
installation view oscar murillo: the flooded garden, tate modern, london, 2024. photo: tim bowditch and reinis lismanis, courtesy the artist. copyright oscar murillo
installation view oscar murillo: the flooded garden, tate modern, london, 2024. photo: tim bowditch and reinis lismanis, courtesy the artist. copyright oscar murillo
installation view oscar murillo: the flooded garden, tate modern, london, 2024. photo: tim bowditch and reinis lismanis, courtesy the artist. copyright oscar murillo
installation view oscar murillo: together in our spirits, serralves, lisbon, 2023. photo: tim bowditch
installation view oscar murillo: together in our spirits, serralves, lisbon, 2023. photo: tim bowditch
installation view oscar murillo: together in our spirits, serralves, lisbon, 2023. photo: tim bowditch
installation view oscar murillo: ética y estética, san agustin tekanto, yucatan, mexico, 2021
installation view oscar murillo: ética y estética, san agustin tekanto, yucatan, mexico, 2021
installation view oscar murillo: ética y estética, san agustin tekanto, yucatan, mexico, 2021
installation view oscar murillo: horizontal darkness in search of solidarity, kunstverein hamburg, 2019. photo: fred dott. courtesy the artist and kunstverein in hamburg.
installation view oscar murillo: horizontal darkness in search of solidarity, kunstverein hamburg, 2019. photo: fred dott. courtesy the artist and kunstverein in hamburg.
installation view oscar murillo: horizontal darkness in search of solidarity, kunstverein hamburg, 2019. photo: fred dott. courtesy the artist and kunstverein in hamburg.
installation view oscar murillo: all the world's futures, 56th venice biennale, italy, 2015. photo: maris mezulis
installation view oscar murillo: all the world's futures, 56th venice biennale, italy, 2015. photo: maris mezulis
installation view oscar murillo: all the world's futures, 56th venice biennale, italy, 2015. photo: maris mezulis
Some of his most recent solo exhibitions include: Espíritus en el pantano, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2025); Espíritus en el pantano, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico (2025); The Flooded Garden, Tate Modern, London (2024); Oscar Murillo: Masses, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium (2024); Oscar Murillo: 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); Spirits and Gestures, Fondazione Memmo, Rome (2022); ética y estética, organized by kurimanzutto, Parroquia San Agustín, Tekantó, Yucatán, Mexico (2021); Condiciones aún por titular, Museum of Art of the National University of Colombia, Bogota (2021); Frequencies, MAM Project 029, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2021); Oscar Murillo: Social Altitude, Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2019); Oscar Murillo: Horizontal Darkness In Search of Solidarity, Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany (2019); Oscar Murillo: Violent Amnesia, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (2019); Oscar Murillo: Catalyst, Kukje Gallery, Seoul (2018); Capsule 07: Oscar Murillo, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2017); Dis Place, Yarat Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan (2016); ); A prophecy in the history of things, Artpace, San Antonio, Texas (2015); Condiciones aún por titular, Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2015); Oscar Murillo: Distribution Center, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles (2014); 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), among others.
His work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions, including: Eduardo’s birthday party on Ave. Gabriel, Galerie 1900-2000, New York, [curated by Oscar Murillo] (2025); New New Babylon: Visions for Another Tomorrow, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands (2025); Check Mate(s), Casa SP Arte, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); Let Me Tell You a Story…Part I, Akara Art, Mumbai, India (2023); To bend the ear of the outerworld—Conversations on Contemporary Abstract Painting, Gagosian, London (2023); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York (2022); To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA), Massachusets (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 (2020); HERE AND NOW: Transcorporealities, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2019); The Joy of Color, Mnuchin Gallery, New York (2018); The Absent Museum, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium (2017); lucky dip, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, Performa 15, Nueva York (2015); De marcha ¿una rumba? No, solo un desfile con ética y estética, Centro Cultural Daoíz y Velarde, Madrid (2015); 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 (MoMA), New York (2014); Transforming the Known: Works from the Bert Kreuk Collection, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, 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
