OSCAR MURILLO (b. 1986, lives and works in La Paila, Colombia) has developed a multifaceted and challenging practice that spans painting, collaborative projects, video, sound and installation. Through each body of work, the artist probes ideas of collectivity and shared culture, demonstrating a commitment to the power of material presence alongside complex meditations on contemporary society.

A focus on the social dimension that sits on the border between performance and events is also central to Murillo’s practice. He often invites collaborators to participate in generative moments of collective energy: creating vast collaborative paintings with over 70,000 participants in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, walking through New York or travelling between UK cities carrying mateos (traditional papier-mâché figures made in Colombia), hosting a cleaners’ party at the Serpentine Gallery, painting swathes of linen black in community centres, or holding a runway performance, open to the public, in a 14th century building in Venice. Each of these projects point to a perpetual curiosity into notions of global social and economic exchange, community, and collaboration. 

Recent solo presentations include Collective Osmosis, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus and Museum Barberini, Potsdam (2026), Oscar Murillo: Espíritus en el pantano, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Monterrey (2025), Espíritus enel pantano, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2025); The flooded garden, Tate Modern, London part of UNIQLO Tate Play (2024); Masses, WIELS, Brussels, Belgium (2024); and Together in Our Spirits, Fundação Serralves, Porto, Portugal (2023-24). Other past solo exhibitions have been held at KM21, The Hague, Netherlands (2021-22), Fondazione Memmo, Rome, Italy (2021-22), Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (2019); and Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2017-18). In 2019, Murillo was one of four artists to collectively win the prestigious Turner Prize. His works are held in numerous public collections including Tate, Kunstmuseum den Haag, Fondation Louis Vuitton and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

Murillo earned his BFA at the University of Westminster in 2007 and his MFA from the Royal College of Art in 2012. In 2023 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster.

Oscar Murillo portrait courtesy the artist and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey