Provenance
Carlos/Ishikawa, london
Catalogue Essay
“My studio is a cradle of dust and dirt, of pollution. I don’t tidy up at the end of each production process. It’s all very much on purpose; it’s continuous process, a machine of which I’m the catalyst.” OSCAR MURILLO

Oscar Murillo’s works stretch across a variety of media. Sculpture, film, performance and painting have all been repeatedly explored by the London based artist. In his art, Murillo makes allusions to social displacement, cultural history and artistic process, with profound and striking results. Often displaying wrought and agitated surfaces, his works throb with energy; giving clear testimony to the vigorous and highly visceral process by which they are conceived and making for emotive and thought-provoking viewing.

Murillo was born in 1986 in the small town of La Paila, in Columbia, where his family worked in the local Sugar Mill. At the age of ten, he and his clan immigrated to London, where the artist would come to study at the Royal College of art. Whilst still a student, the artist was already receiving great attention, for his bold and varied works. Over the past few years, he has gone on to appear in a number of acclaimed solo and group exhibitions including those at Isabella Bortolozzi (Berlin), Art Basel, Carlos/Ishikawa (London), MAMA Showroom (Rotterdam), Rubell Family Collection (Miami), Serpentine Gallery (London), Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (Colombia).

Drawing upon his Columbian heritage, Murillo makes direct references to South American culture and emblems in his art. The rough, patched surfaces of his paintings bear the name of produce such as ‘Maize’, ‘Pollo ’ and ‘Coconut’ daubed across their frames while many of his performance pieces incorporate the playing of Columbian music and serving Columbian food. Despite this, Murillo’s art also betrays a sense of cultural displacement. Bestowing his works with oblique titles, which subtly draw upon notions surrounding race and discomfort, the artist imbues his art with a sense of exclusion and uncertainty, creating an undeniable tension.

Murillo’s artistic practice is a highly familial and collaborative one, with a number of the artist’s family members assisting him in his studio and featuring in his films. For the artist’s highly publicized Park Night 2013 show 'The Cleaners, Late Summer Party with Comme des Garçons’ at the Serpentine gallery in London, aunts, uncles and cousins of the artist came together in a large dance spectacle, mingling and engaging with those that came to watch. This show aimed to replicate the parties Murillo’s relatives had traditionally held in Columbia whilst he was growing up. Simultaneously this spectacle made a highly personal allusion to the cleaning industry, which many of his family members had been a part of, and which Murillo himself had gone into, as a means of supporting himself through Art College.

It is painting which forms the backbone of Murillo’s works. Hand stitching his canvases together the artist relies heavily upon accident and chance in the creation of his works detritus and dirt are allowed to imprint upon the surfaces of his works, producing grubby and distressed results. As the artist has stated, "My studio is a cradle of dust and dirt, of pollution. I don’t tidy up at the end of each production process. It’s all very much on purpose; it’s continuous process, a machine of which I’m the catalyst. Things get moved around, I step on them, and they get contaminated. It’s not about leaving traces, it’s about letting things mature on their own—like aging cheese or letting a stew cook, they get more flavorful. That’s kind of how these paintings are made." (Oscar Murillo, by Legacy Russell BOMB 122/Winter 2013, ART) In Untitled a group of footprints spread across the bottom half of the picture plane in a faint, murky pattern, imbuing the piece with a sense of dynamism and suggestion of happenstance. The rest of the surface holds an array of smudges and smears further stressing the sense of chance which radiates from the work. The right hand side of the work bears a deep, red panel which vibrates against the off-white surface of the rest of the work. Bold and visceral this piece encapsulates the principal elements of Murillo’s brash and lively style.

34

Oscar Murillo

Untitled

2011
oil, dirt, oil stick, spray paint on canvas
214 x 171 cm. (84 1/4 x 67 3/8 in.)

Estimate
£60,000 - 80,000 ‡♠

Sold for £98,500

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Evening Sale 10 February 2014 7pm

1
Fredrik Værslev
Untitled (Frieze Garden Painting #02)
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ♠
Sold for £48,750
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2
Lucien Smith
Feet in the Water
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ‡
Sold for £194,500
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3
Adam McEwen
Rite Aid
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ♠†
Sold for £170,500
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4
Urs Fischer
Nail Duo
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £230,500
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5
Dan Colen
It's Only Natural (The Replacement)
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
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6
Nate Lowman
Untitled Marilyn #13
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £530,500
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7
Sterling Ruby
SP56
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £494,500
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8
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000 ‡
Sold for £1,314,500
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9
Andreas Gursky
Ocean IV
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ♠
Sold for £338,500
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10
Rosemarie Trockel
Untitled
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡♠
Sold for £116,500
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11
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Nets OPQR
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £458,500
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12
Urs Fischer
Cutting a Cake with a Hammer
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
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13
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
Sold for £470,500
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14
Andy Warhol
One Multicolored Marilyn (Reversal Series)
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,082,500
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15
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (Abstract Painting)
Estimate £1,800,000 - 2,200,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,930,500
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16
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Butterfly)
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
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17
Michaël Borremans
The Portrait
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ‡♠
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18
Donald Judd
Untitled
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
Sold for £326,500
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19
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Uomo con gli stivali al telefono
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ♠
Sold for £614,500
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20
Andy Warhol
Miguel Berrocal
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000 ‡
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21
Komar and Melamid
Karl Marx and Cornucopia (Diptych)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
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22
Semyon Faibisovich
Winter Day, from the “Shuttle Bus” series
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £62,500
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23
This lot is no longer available.
24
Chris Ofili
The Saga Continues...The Journey from Hell
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
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25
Banksy
Happy Shopper
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £506,500
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26
Banksy
Rembrandt
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ♠
Sold for £398,500
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27
Jacob Kassay
Untitled
Estimate £70,000 - 100,000 ‡
Sold for £86,500
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28
This lot is no longer available.
29
Damien Hirst
Night Follows Day (Diptych)
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡♠
Sold for £578,500
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30
Ashley Bickerton
Bismarck Archipelago Shark
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000
Sold for £104,500
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31
Robert Longo
Spanish Blood
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £170,500
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32
Wolfgang Tillmans
Paper Drop (White) b
Estimate £25,000 - 35,000 ♠
Sold for £25,000
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33
This lot is no longer available.
34
Oscar Murillo
Untitled
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡♠
Sold for £98,500
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35
Mark Flood
Pink Summer Day
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000
Sold for £80,500
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Evening Sale 10 February 2014 7pm

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

34

Oscar Murillo

Untitled

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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