Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles Acquired from the above by the present owner
Catalogue Essay
Untitled is exemplary of Oscar Murillo’s exploratory and grounded work heading into the 2010’s. Channeling the likes of Cy Twombly and Jean-Michel Basquait, Colombian-born, London raised artist, Murillo produces beautifully expressive paintings using oil sticks, spray paint and dust from his studio. The raw energy and vigor of the young artist’s mark making, clearly visible in this piece, is what quickly established his as a practice destined for critical renown.
Untitled Drawing Off the Wall perfectly embodies Murillo’s ability to blend the performative and the functional. The oil and dirt in this piece are just two of the many types of discarded materials from Murillo’s studio that he has often used on his canvases. In an interview in 2012, he describes the dust, dirt, tape, and other bits of ephemeral fabric that “pollute” a space as the “DNA” of said space. Untitled Drawing Off the Wall, having such a sample of his studio’s DNA, is therefore truly a piece of the studio and Murillo himself. Exploring various concepts in his practice, Murillo’s canvases are manifestations of a body in transit, an artist’s inquisition into the geographies of space, within the studio and out into the world beyond. He has likened this use of leftover substances from around his studio as reflective of his upbringing as a child in a village in Colombia – “you had to be resourceful.” A striking blend of painting, drawing, action and autobiography, Untitled Drawing Off the Wall presents Oscar Murillo’s characteristically captivating and infectious dynamism. Erratic and expressive, the present work is exemplary of the Colombian émigré’s exciting artistic output.