Oscar Muñoz

Oscar Muñoz is a Colombian visual artist. He is known as one of the most significant contemporary visual artists in his country, and his work has also gained international recognition. Most of his art is concerned with the idea of representation, and his choice of art medium moves freely between photography (photorealism), printmaking, graphite drawing, installation art, audiovisual media, and sculpture. He also explores how images relate to memory, loss, and the precarious nature of human life.

Career
Social and political influences on art
Muñoz's career began in the 1970s, with his first art exhibition being held in 1971 in Ciudad Solar (Solar City) - a new alternative art space, which was considered to be one of the first of its kind to exist in Colombia, and was also a major milestone in the history of the arts in Cali. The artistic style in Muñoz's earliest works (which were presented in this space) was heavily influenced by what was going on internationally in the art scene, and as a result his works were concerned with photorealism and hyper-realism. In addition, the social and political issues in Colombia provided him with a subject for his art.

During the early 1970s, Colombia experienced a massive urban expansion due to rural dwellers migrating to the cities. The mass movement of people resulted in the emergence of slums in order to accommodate the large influx of people. This urban phenomena taking place in Colombia drew Muñoz's interest, and so his first series, Inquilinatos (Tenements), focused on the social issues and changes taking place in urban life as a result of the recent urban growth. This first series of his was exhibited in the Ciudad Solar, and it was through this exhibition that he first began to gain attention for his work.

In addition to the rapid urban growth taking place throughout Colombia, there was also an important creative movement taking place in the city of Cali during this time. In an interview, Muñoz explained it as a time of "extensive cultural activity and creativity, ruptures, and exploration for new possibilities in all areas." He believed it was a dynamic and promising moment for Cali, and through it, he found a platform on which to present his work.

Later on in the 1980s and 1990s, Colombia was plagued by wars between feuding drug cartels and the Colombian government, which acted as inspiration for several of Muñoz's pieces during this time. One such piece that came out of this was Ambulatorio: an aerial photograph of Cali printed on a sheet of shattered glass, which viewers can walk on, looking down on the city. As the viewers walk over the photograph, the glass continues to crack under their feet, bringing in the senses of sound and touch. Muñoz explained that this work was inspired by a bombing that had taken place in Cali during the violence of the 1980s and 1990s. After the bomb had exploded, Muñoz was able to walk through the city and in the process became fascinated by the fragments of glass he saw scattered everywhere, some of which had become encrusted into the pavement.

Muñoz continues to explore the theme of violence in Colombia through his current works. He stated that his art endeavors to understand the mechanisms developed by a society that has suffered a routinization of war; a society whose past, present, and most likely future, will continue to be filled with violence on a daily basis. He connects this exploration of ongoing violence in Colombia to the idea of memory, attempting to understand how the continued violence in Colombia has affected the memories of society. Muñoz believes that in a country which has suffered through the existence of violence and wars for decades - and has become all that people have ever known in some cases - memory can become contaminated and confusing. He stated that the particularities of memory can become confused, obscured, and unresolved, and that it becomes difficult to establish distinct moments from Colombia's past and relate them to the present, because everything seems to run together in a continuing narrative of violence. Muñoz's work is a response to a process that has to do with his life and his environment; according to him, "it is my way of trying to understand this malaise."

Use of different mediums in artwork
In his earliest works, he used charcoal and photography to create pieces that were focused on recreating what he saw in the social conditions around him. He saw photography as a way to add a documentary element to his drawings, and to explore elements such as light, shadow, and other details. As his career progressed, he began to focus more on the theme of reflection in his works, and so he saw photography as a way to further this idea of reflection, as well as to explore the relationships between illusion, truth, and reality - a theme which is continued in his artworks today. Even in his recent works he continues to use charcoal and photography, but he has also introduced new materials such as glass, mirrors, and audiovisual media, as well as other ephemeral materials.

Major contributions
In 2006, Muñoz founded a cultural center and art residency program in Cali, Colombia called Lugar a Dudas (Space for Doubts). This art center has become a place for young artists to gather in order to work through ideas, as well as to participate in a dialogue and public debate about art and politics.

Muñoz has several works in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, including "Untitled" from the series Dried Narcissus (Narciso seco) (1996) a screenprint on acrylic, and The Game of Probabilities (2007) a series of chromogenic color prints.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2024