Oscar Murillo and the exhibition arc of Collective Osmosis
Published on 08/31/2026 at 12:30 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Oscar Murillo has spent the last years building institution-scale projects around painting, installation and participatory formats. His double-venue exhibition Collective Osmosis in Potsdam, which ran from March 14 to August 9, 2026, now marks a key chapter in that exhibition arc, as DAS MINSK Kunsthaus and Museum Barberini detail in their project information.
The Potsdam double exhibition
In Collective Osmosis, Oscar Murillo transformed the indoor and outdoor spaces of DAS MINSK into a large-scale experiment in exchange and collectivity, extending into the galleries of Museum Barberini in Potsdam. The project brought his abstract, materially dense painting into dialogue with works by Claude Monet, positioning contemporary global histories next to French Impressionism.
The exhibition marked the first collaboration between the two institutions of the Hasso Plattner Foundation, with Murillo’s works shown simultaneously at DAS MINSK and Museum Barberini. The institutions emphasize the show’s cross-venue structure as central to its conception, underlining how Murillo’s practice engages with institutional frameworks as part of the work itself.
Exhibition & show history as backbone
The Potsdam project sits within a broader exhibition trajectory, from the extensive show A see of history at Castello di Rivoli in Turin, running from September 26, 2025 to June 1, 2026, to the gallery exhibition el pozo de agua at kurimanzutto in Mexico City in 2026. These exhibitions share an emphasis on dense surfaces, layered mark-making and social mapping in Murillo’s work.
Across these contexts, Murillo’s exhibitions often stretch beyond conventional painting presentations, incorporating installations, socially charged materials and participatory gestures that redistribute authorship over time. The large collective painting on the terrace at DAS MINSK, which visitors could continuously overpaint, exemplified this open-ended logic within the Potsdam show.
All news and background on Oscar Murillo
Further reports on Oscar Murillo’s exhibitions, projects and institutional collaborations are available in the AD HOC NEWS archive.
The work core in institutions
Oscar Murillo’s practice centers on abstract painting that often carries traces of travel, labor and collective action, combined with installations that activate exhibition spaces as social arenas. In Potsdam, this appeared in canvases layered with gestural marks and sewn elements, as well as floor pieces and interventions within the architecture of DAS MINSK and Museum Barberini.
Museum Barberini’s presentation included the new large-scale triptych surge (social cataracts) within its Impressionist collection display, placing Murillo’s work among historical paintings to highlight frictions between past and present. Such placements illustrate how institutions read his works as carriers of social and political concerns, not just formal abstraction.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Oscar Murillo’s practice stands in an institutionally embedded phase, with Collective Osmosis completed in Potsdam in August 2026 and no new public exhibition date officially announced within the immediate 30-day window.
Key facts on Oscar Murillo
- Artist: Oscar Murillo
- Medium / Genre: Painting and installation (conceptual, socially engaged)
- Born: 1986, La Paila, Colombia
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between London and various international project sites
- Active since: mid-2000s, with wider institutional visibility from the early 2010s
- Key work groups: Frecuencias, Flight installations, Collective Osmosis project, large-scale abstract canvases with sewn elements
- Current/last exhibition: Collective Osmosis, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus and Museum Barberini, Potsdam, March 14, 2026 – August 9, 2026
- Major collections: Tate (London), Kunstmuseum den Haag, Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco)
- Awards: Turner Prize co-laureate 2019 (as part of the collective decision of the shortlisted artists)
- Next date: no officially announced new exhibition or fair date within the immediate 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Oscar Murillo
Where was Oscar Murillo most recently on view in Germany?
From March 14 to August 9, 2026, Oscar Murillo’s project Collective Osmosis was presented at DAS MINSK Kunsthaus and Museum Barberini in Potsdam as a coordinated double exhibition.
What defined the exhibition Collective Osmosis in Potsdam?
Collective Osmosis combined Murillo’s abstract paintings, installations and a participatory terrace work with a curated dialogue to Claude Monet, marking the first collaboration between DAS MINSK and Museum Barberini.
Which public collections hold works by Oscar Murillo?
Works by Oscar Murillo are held in major collections including Tate in London, Kunstmuseum den Haag, Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as institutional overviews confirm.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
