Colombian painter Oscar Murillo has taken off as one of the most fascinating new players in the art scene. His works emit incredible energy, his video concepts provoke thought as well as sentiment, and, at the young age of 28, his talent has been verified by collectors willing to pay over $400,000 for his work.
Some call him a Warholian superstar. Others say his talent will buy him much more than 15 minutes of fame.
Murillo’s first solo exhibition in France has opened chez Galerie Marian Goodman under the title We Don’t Work Sundays, an exploration of the work that goes into play. Much of the inspiration for the pieces draws from what “working class Colombians create in anticipation of their leisure activities.” The pieces are fantastical and playful, multicultural and emotionally interactive.
Yet for as present as the idea of play is within each piece, the artist rejects all notions of game. Murillo steers clear of the art world points system, the success and the spotlight, and simply plays an ace. This purity fills every corner of the room.
In the downstairs gallery projection room, two videos flash around the viewer. One, a home video from the Colombian festival Feria de Cali. The other, a collaborative video of classically trained ballerinas being asked to practice salsa dance moves. To further increase the depth of his video, Murillo collaborated with fashion students from l’Ecole Duperré, asking them to re-imagine the Feria de Cali costumes. The ballerinas then wore them, another cultural cloak over their personal tradition.
It is a beautiful and personal comment on cultural assimilation, a visual metaphor of the attempt to leave behind what you know, and the physical impossibility of forgetting one’s roots.
Side by side, the two videos perfectly juxtapose one another. They create a soft dialogue on culture and an intimate experience, warmly connecting the viewer to the artist.
As a collective body of work, Murillo’s pieces stand out for their quality of expression. As a Colombian immigrant to London, Murillo revisits his experiences as an “outsider” as well as those from within his native traditions. He left his home town at age 10, speaking no English when he hit British soil. His childhood was lonely, and family was everything.
Just two years ago, Murillo was cleaning office buildings in the early hours of the morning to pay his way through the Royal College of Art. Now, owning a “Murillo” is becoming a status symbol. But fame at such an early age poses a risk to the artist’s career: most who find early fame are blinded by the flashing lights and lose their ability to further evolve. Similarly, if an artist becomes too cool too quickly, they can end up as a quick fad, only to be dropped when the next shiny, new star comes along.
These days the art market can define the artist, rather than the art defining the market.
However, Murillo’s simple and straight forward approach allows him to beat that game. When speaking to the New York Times, Murillo insisted, “I came to this by simply working. It’s the market, and that has nothing to do with me.” He then went on to say, “I’m just trying to keep things normal. I’ve had to live below my means for so long that I’m keeping it that way.”
Murillo’s humility, as well as the emotional vulnerability put forth in his work, will give him a career with beautiful longevity. He’s an artist to remember, an artist to invest in, an artist to admire.
WE DON’T WORK SUNDAYS
MAY 23 – JULY 18, 2014
PARIS
http://www.mariangoodman.com/
Article: Amanda Hinton
