Each of us spent the Coronavirus lockdown in different ways, from smartworking to cooking, from reading or learning a new skill to nurturing our creativity.
Colombian-born artist Oscar Murillo has been quarantined for months in his hometown of La Paila, where he remained creative by focusing on a new series of paintings. The latter were then displayed as part of an exhibition entitled "ética y estética" at the local church of Santa Barbara.
The abstract paintings feature Murillo's trademark scratching, scribbles and doodles and names of food - "chorizo," "maiz," and "carne", for example.
Murillo's fans may remember how he used these terms in his early works and how the terms were also featured in an advertising campaign for Comme des Garçons' Shirt line. These early works were also popular among Murillo's collectors: a painting with the word "Burrito" scrawled across the top in bright yellow sold indeed for $322,870 at an auction in 2014.
Yet now the aim and purpose of these words have changed: in these new paintings, the terms are partially or totally obliterated as a metaphor to hint at the precariousness of life and at the fact that some people may not be able to afford these bare necessities at this moment.
The paintings represent contrasting elements in the church as they create a chaotic disruption in the simplicity of the pristine chapel, but, at the same time, they engage in a dialogue with religion, reminding us about the need to feed the body and to nurture the soul as well (these paintings displayed in the church spaces rather than in an art gallery, also prompt us to think about the artificially inflated modern art market and about the fact that most people can't afford any works of art...).
The exhibition represents also a sort of ritual, a tribute to the act of coming together in celebration: while Murillo is not a fan of organised religion he acknowledges the importance of parishes for many communities. In fact, during the Coronavirus lockdown, he also turned his studio into a distribution centre to supply food to the village and collaborated with the local church to share essential goods.
The event was inspired by an eponymous 2016 performance Murillo did at the village in which local people marched with painted placards to the statue of Hernando Caicedo (1890-1966), founder the Colombina candy factory, that employs many of the residents (four generations of his family worked here, including his mother and, in 2014, the factory inspired him the project "A Mercantile Novel").
The performance celebrated the prosperity brought by the factory, but also the fact that workers get exploited in factories as they often receive low wages for their hard work.
Murillo is represented by David Zwirner, but this is one of the many exhibitions that will be taking place offsite. People from all over the world will be able to enjoy the event as well by accessing it online at this site.
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