Oscar Murillo is a Colombian artist working within the painting tradition. He currently lives and works in various locations. Murillo’s solo exhibitions include Yarat Contemporary Art Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan ; Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá; Centro Cultural DaoÃz y Velarde, Madrid; Performa 15, New York and Artpace, San Antonio ; The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, and South London Gallery. The artist has also participated in numerous international group exhibitions and biennials, including the Sharjah Biennial 13 and the 56th Venice Biennale. Critic Legacy Russell has said that the artist explores "the body in transit", while curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist has spoken of a "blurring between art and life" occurring in Murillo’s multidisciplinary works. In 2019, he co-won the Turner Prize after requesting with his fellow nominees that the jury award the prize for the first time to all four nominated artists.
Early life and education
Murillo was born, and spent the first ten years of his life, in La Paila, a small town in the Valle del Cauca Department of Colombia. His parents moved to London when he was 10 years old and knew no English. In 2007, Murillo earned his BA. in Fine Art at University of Westminster. After graduating, he worked as a teacher in a secondary school. He soon quit his job and traveled to South America. In 2012, Murillo graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, with an MA in Fine Art. Living in East London, he often worked as an installer for the neighborhood’s small galleries.
Work
Murillo's studio-based works are fundamentally tied to the environment where he produces them: Since 2013, through his ongoing collaborative project Frequencies, Murillo has worked with schools across the globe, placing pieces of raw canvas on schools students' desks and inviting them to draw and write on, mark and illustrate them. To date, thousands of students, primarily aged 10 to 16, have participated. The canvases are added to a growing archive, selections of which have been exhibited at the 56th Venice Biennale, Italy, the 2nd Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art 2016, China and 3rd Aichi Triennial, Japan. Another ongoing theme throughout Murillo's work concerns postcolonial and socioeconomic disparities. In his work The Coming of the Europeans, a large-scale banner conceived for the inaugural Kathmandu Triennale in the same year, he commented on the continuing legacy of colonialism in present-day international fairs.
Art market
In February 2013, London auctions at Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips all included Murillo’s work. Artnet estimates that 24 Murillo pieces generated a total of $4.8 million at auction that year. Untitled, 2012 sold for £218,500 at Phillips, London, 16 October 2013. Murillo is represented by Carlos Ishikawa, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie and David Zwirner.
