Roberto Murillo

Roberto Murillo utilises charcoal and mixed media to create large-scale, imposing and emotionally-charged monochrome works, which depict a choreography of intertwined nude bodies that traverse the expanse of the paper. These bodies are a vivid representation of human emotions and intricate relationships.

Inspired by a diverse range of influences, including Eugène Delacroix and Lucian Freud, as well as influences from literature, dance, and cinema, Murillo explores the complexities of human existence, portraying the delicate balance between psychological and philosophical transformation. Murillo states: “My art represents a way to fill the void of existence and to find happiness in the process; it is intellectual and spiritual development”.

Dancers and performers are his subjects, as he subverts conventional ideals of beauty and illuminates the raw authenticity of the human form. Embracing this imperfection, he celebrates old or fat bodies, advocating for their unfiltered representation.

Murillo operates between the abstract and the figurative, employing chiaroscuro to craft bold contrasts of light and dark. This technique, at times, reveals only select parts of the body emerging from the dense veil of charcoal while concealing others, evoking a sense of mystery and depth. Simultaneously, Murillo captures movement and dynamism in his figures, as if they are perpetually engaged in an eternal dance — whether cascading across the canvas or seamlessly melding into the shadows of the medium. Murillo’s work celebrates the power of the human form and its eternal relevance in the ever-changing world.

Why We Love This Artist
Roberto’s large-scale charcoal works are genuinely arresting — figures emerging from dense shadow with a physicality and emotional charge that only comes from working directly from life. That immediacy is at the heart of everything he does. He is also constantly experimenting, pushing into gesso, ink, homemade chalk and acrylic, always finding new ways to get at the same essential truth about the human form.