'Oscar Murillo: Manifestation' At David Zwirner, London

Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation',  Oil, Spray Paint & Oil Stick On Canvas, Linen & Velvet, 2018-19

For the second time in a few posts, I find myself apologising for writing a report of an Oscar Murillo exhibition, too late for anyone to actually see it.  This time, it's mostly due to my having visited 'Manifestation' at David Zwirner's swanky Mayfair outpost, just prior to it closing - although, admittedly, it's still taken two further weeks to actually file this.  What can I say (excuses, apologies, etc.)? 

 Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation', David Zwirner Gallery, London, July 2019

We'll just have to fall back on the fact of art production being far more of a continuum, than just a series of finite public events.  And, we're lucky in that respect, where Murillo is concerned.  The individual artefacts may linger, but the seemingly ever-morphing, context-responsive nature of his practice, means they are likely to reappear with freshness and renewed vigour, at another time and place.  Also, Murillo currently seems so prolific that the enthusiast can safely assume that, if they've missed this batch - there'll be a load more new work following along shortly.  Finally, his inclusion on this year's Turner Prize short list, means he's unlikely to fall out of the spotlight any time soon.  In reality, anyone keen to encounter his work for real (and I'd definitely recommend it), can actually do so at the accompanying exhibition - opening soon at Margate's Turner Contemporary.

Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation', Oil, Spray Paint & Oil Stick On Canvas, Linen & Velvet, 2019,
(Detail Below)

Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation',  Oil, Spray Paint & Oil Stick On Canvas, Linen & Velvet, 2019,
(Detail Below)

As far as this post goes, there feels little need to write another lengthy diatribe, further extolling Murillo's virtues, given that 'Manifestation' mostly cemented many of the opinions already expressed here after his recent 'Violent Amnesia' showcase at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge.  Of the two, the London show was possibly even more satisfying, purely from a painterly perspective - being largely comprised of a series of ambitious (and often  impressively large), recent paintings.  As I discussed in that earlier post, Murillo feels to me, like an exciting and confident painter - who is also unafraid to branch out in other directions (including various installation, collaborative, and time-based enterprises).  I really do admire and commend him, for that ambition, not least because it slightly mirrors my own recent aspirations (without the 'exciting and confident' part).  However, in Murillo's case, I have to accept that it really is the paintings, or painting-related works, that thrill me most.

Oscar Murillo, 'Chocolate Master After Hans Haake', Wood, Canvas, Fabric, Oil, Oil Stick,
Corn & Clay, 2019, (Detail Below

Oscar Murillo, 'When Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday',  Pen, Pencil, Graphite & Carbon
On paper, With Wood, Perspex & Oil, 2019

Oscar Murillo, 'Perpetual State Of Being', Video, 2018

At David Zwirner, the accompanying works comprised an (admittedly paint-daubed) site-specific installation, ('Chocolate Master After Hans Haake'), a modest, wall-based assemblage (again, featuring a painterly element, and entitled, 'When Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday'), and a video.  Of the three, it was the last, 'Perpetual State Of Being' which captured my imagination most effectively, as a camera wandered at random across a seemingly interminable landscape of abstract marks.  It's a simple enough an idea, and fairly low-tech in its execution (as is most of Murillo's oeuvre) - but an effective one nonetheless.  One of the features of Murillo's nominally static painting that excites me most is its demonstration of how many exuberant ways one might get across a canvas surface.  In the case of 'PSOB' the visual terrain traversed by the camera, and projected at immersive scale - directly onto the wall, makes that sense of restless movement, and of distance travelled explicit.  The title alone, seems to amplify the idea of Murillo's work as something in constant, energetic motion.

Oscar Murillo, '(Untitled) Catalyst', Oil & Graphite On Canvas, 2018

Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation', Oil, Spray Paint & Oil Stick On Canvas, Linen & Velvet, 2018-19

Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation', Oil, Spray Paint & Oil Stick On Canvas, Linen & Velvet, 2019,
(Detail Below)

But, as I say, it's those paintings that do it best for me.  All the pleasure I took in Cambridge, from Murillo's arsenal of mark-making devices, his painterly exuberance and celebration of paint's plastic materiality, was once more on display in London, juxtaposed with the more mechanical reconstruction of separate canvas sections and inclusion of printed motifs.  And the inclusion of another 'Catalyst' (of the kind that pleased me so much in Cambridge), demonstrated how the more complex 'Manifestation' works shown here, may well have grown out of their process (as the titling system might suggest).  In fact, the slightly ambiguous dating does allow for the possibility it could equally be the other way round (making the 'Catalysts' some kind of distillation - perhaps?).  Regardless of what order things arrive in, what really seems to matter most, is that sense of Murillo's ideas and forms perpetually evolving and morphing out of each other with a kind of self-generating dynamism.

But, if this most recent bunch are effectively just further milestones along the way - it still doesn't preclude them becoming somewhat stately, at the same time.  The results actually settle into a more contemplative, immersive mode when grouped together in a gallery.  On reflection, my lasting, take-home impression of this exhibition, probably was that very negotiation between that restless churn of each painting - when viewed at close quarters, and the paradoxical sense of repose apparent in each room as a whole.

Oscar Murillo, '(Untitled) Surge', Oil, Oil Stick & Graphite, On Canvas, Linen & Velvet,
2017-19, (Detail Below)

There were also also two more 'Surge' canvases here, to compare with the one shown in Cambridge.  All seem to evoke a sense of inundation on an oceanic scale, threatening to submerge any underlying imagery beneath the waves.  It's tempting to claim that Murillo is another artist with a penchant for working in self-contained series - but, in his case, it feels more organic, and less compartmentalised than that.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe these title or motif-connected works as 'families'.  Those familial ties seem to become stretched across both time and territory in his work, with individual motifs constantly  cross-fertilising as they reaching out for fresh soil.  Given his previously acknowledged themes of migration, community, and the stresses on social connectedness exerted by global economics, that sense of a fluid diaspora feels all the more appropriate.

Oscar Murillo, 'Untitled', Oil & Oil Stick On Canvas With Steel Pole, 2016-18

Oscar Murillo, '(Untitled) Surge', Oil & Oil Stick On Canvas & Linen, 2017-19

Oscar Murillo, 'Manifestation', David Zwirner Gallery, London, July 2019, (And Below)

Anyhow - enough waffle.  If Murillo's best work isn't about the sheer thrill of visual encounter, I don't know what is, these days.  Let the pictures tell the real story, then...

'Oscar Murillo: Manifestation' ran between 8 June - 26 July 2019, at: David Zwirner, 24 Grafton Street, London W1S 4EZ

'Turner Prize 2019' (Including Oscar Murillo) will run between 28 September 2019 - 12 January 2020, at: Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate, Kent CT9 1HG