In Conversation: Oscar Murillo and Fi Churchman

Join Oscar Murillo and ArtReview editor Fi Churchman in conversation at David Zwirner, London on 10 October, 6.30pm

Please join us on the occasion of Oscar Murillo’s exhibition A balancing act between collapse and spirit at David Zwirner, London, for a conversation between the artist and ArtReview editor Fi Churchman at 6.30pm, 10 October.

RSVP: rsvp-london@davidzwirner.com

With the kind support of Chateau La Coste

Darkness a place of radical freedom

Markings, reading and sending telegrams… constellations of thoughts and gestures

Untraceable landscapes. Concealed – irrational!

Fields of despair—scarred.

The playhouse of imperiled spirits

As our world becomes ever more hostile I must go home and be safe—I send to you these telegrams—telegrams of sympathy.

bruised and bleeding.

These words started with the untimely departure of my mentor Okwui Enwezor, in 2019—it was also the first time I thought of Manifestations. Manifestations now need to be Protests…

A decade ago on the eve of All the World’s Futures we spoke of The Artist as Producer in Times of Crisis, a devastating crisis.

We miss you

—Oscar Murillo, July 2024

Born in Colombia, Murillo is known for an inventive and itinerant practice that encompasses paintings, works on paper, sculptures, installations, actions, live events, collaborative projects and videos. Taken as a whole, his body of work demonstrates a sustained emphasis on the notion of cultural exchange and the multiple ways in which ideas, languages and even everyday items are displaced, circulated and increasingly intermingled. 

Murillo earned his BFA in 2007 from the University of Westminster, London, followed by his MFA in 2012 from the Royal College of Art, London. In 2019 he jointly won the 2019 Turner Prize. His first exhibition at David Zwirner, titled A Mercantile Novel, was held at the gallery in New York in 2014. Subsequent solo exhibitions by Murillo at David Zwirner include binary function (London, 2015), through patches of corn, wheat and mud (New York, 2016), the build-up of content and information (Hong Kong, 2018), Manifestation (London, 2019), News (Paris, 2020), and Ourself behind ourself concealed (New York, 2022).

His latest project took place at the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, London, this summer and featured a large-scale participatory installation titled The flooded garden. Murillo’s practice is formed of various long-term projects, including Frequencies, which is developed with members of the artist’s family, studio team, and collaborators around the world: Frequencies is comprised of canvases that are temporarily affixed to classroom desks in selected schools across the globe, onto which students aged ten to sixteen are encouraged to create any kind of mark, whether that’s drawing, writing or doodling. Frequencies was first presented at the 56th Venice Biennale exhibition, All The World’s Futures, in 2015. It has most recently been on view at Swiss Institute, New York (2021); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2021); Coachella Valley, California (2021); TANK Shanghai (2021); and Javett Art Centre, University of Pretoria, South Africa (2023).

Learn more about Oscar Murillo’s work here