Oscar Murillo - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Wednesday, June 26, 2013 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Carlos/Ishikawa, London
    Private Collection, Belgium

  • Catalogue Essay

    Within a multifarious practice merging performance and painting, Colombian born, London raised artist Oscar Murillo hones in on the democratisation of art, thematically linking the two methods of approach. With reference to his own experience of two very different environments, Murillo continually explores divergent cultures, their cross fertilisation and notions of personal identity within them. These two facets of Murillo’s work are articulated through performance such as The Cleaners’ Late Summer Party with COMME des GARÇONS held at the Serpentine in 2012. Taking these events a step further, Murillo’s paintings stand as a performance recorded, hence they can be read as an articulate translation of Murillo’s artistic motives. The canvases themselves are deconstructed, folded, reassembled and are therefore, continually in progress, with Murillo citing Swiss artist Dieter Roth’s process as inspiration for his own highly organic working method.

    Performance and paintings are inextricably linked for Murillo, as 'the individual canvases are very much the DNA; they record that movement, the process of making.' (Interview, O. Murillo and L. Russell in Bomb, Issue 122, 2013, Online). In Untitled, Murillo’s mark making is implemented through traditional artist’s materials such as graphite and oil, however, the performative nature of his practice accounts for the folds, the seams and the dirt. The latter, subtly references Murillo’s overarching themes of democratic art and personal identity within a globalised world: 'dirt [is] everywhere – New York, London, New Delhi… that’s kind of democratic. At least for me.' (Ibid.) Murillo’s work is fundamentally entrusted to his studio – whether it is his primary East London space or taking over one of the galleries in the Rubell Family Collection for one summer in Miami – Murillo is tied to his working environment. The final outcome of works such as Untitled, are indicative of the freedom of his practice, combining a sense of resourcefulness and overarching fluidity. Working on his studio floor, Murillo describes it as '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 flavourful. That’s kind of how these paintings are made.' (Ibid.)

23

Untitled

2011
oil, paper and debris on canvas
188.5 x 175 cm. (74 1/4 x 68 7/8 in.)

Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 ♠†

Sold for £146,500

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

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 27 June 2013 7pm