Artists
United States of America
Michelle Murillo
Destinations
19.05.08 06.06.08
Of Colombian father and North American mother, Michelle Murillo investigates identity (her own and other people’s) in relation to the memory and the experiences lived on a certain place. During his residence in Buenos Aires, she explored these themes, and developed Destinations, a transparent, ethereal and “alarm clock” installation of memories and nostalgic associations.
ARTIST’S TESTIMONY
In my work I try to create a visual language that expresses the complexities of memory.
Multiple brain systems are responsible for different types of memory. Declarative memory (also known as explicit memory) is our conscious recollection of past experiences (long-term memory). Long-term memory can be classified into two categories. Episodic memories are specific to past experiences, and semantic memory is our ability to recall general knowledge. For me, the most persistent memories are the episodes related to the place and environments I inhabit. Memory connects our past and present, therefore it defines who we are. My hypothesis is that memory is a story from the past that can also function as a compass in the present.
I have chosen memory exploration to evoke an emotional experience for the viewer with the awareness that the investigation is also a reflection of my personal identity. My cultural background, my travels and experiences abroad have increased my awareness of the importance of the place. Like the iconic associations recognized in the landscape, I can see the place as a symbol of my personal history and identity. Thus, the narratives of memory in the pictorial space become scenarios of an identity that must be revealed and understood in a broader context associated with past and present experiences. Through my memory research, I hope to create catalytic structures that serve to house memories.
BIO
Michelle Murillo
Born in Oakland, USA.
Lives in Texas, USA.
She is currently an assistant professor of art at the University of Texas. Arlington, USA.
STUDIES
BFA, Boston University. Massachusetts, USA.
MFA, University of Alberta. Canada.
EXHIBITIONS
She has exhibited in Argentina, Canada, Cuba, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the USA.
COLLECTIONS
The Amity Foundation, The Boston Public Library, Boston University College of Fine Arts, The University of Alberta Art and Artifact Collection, Canada, and The Kohler Art Library, University of Wisconsin. Madison, USA.
SCHOLARSHIPS
2005 | The Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Canada.
2005 | The Print Foundation Bentlage. Germany.
2005 | The University of Alberta. Canada.
2004 | The Canada Research Council. Canada.
2002 | The Educational Bridge Project. St. Petersburg, Russia.
Related Activities
Exhibitions
Destinations
Michelle Murillo
06.06.08 07.06.08
The identity indicates a person. It is the possibility of recognizing the unique characteristics and finding a place, an own definition based on the traces of the past, memory, experiences or knowledge.
The narrative interpretive work of memory, converted into spaces of identity to be revealed and understood in the context of past and present experiences. Murillo maintains that memory is a story from the past that can also function as a compass in the present.
The installation presents 200 glass postcards (made with silkscreen prints of old postcard images) that connect with the shadows that they cast, producing a clear metaphor of the inaccessible memory quality. The text on these postcards reveals subtle glimpses of their senders and recipients; from their personal lives, are experienced in artifacts from memory and personal history. Beyond biographical content postcards, they are also a record of trips and stories of experiences. The postcards are registered in metaphorical keys of the memory maps of the place and of the identity.
Related artists
International Projects
Wintermester 2009
Study Abroad Program
01.11.09 03.12.09
For the first time, ´ace received a group of eleven students from the University of Texas, to carry out a Study Program -in the curriculum of said university- in a foreign institution and as part of their academic curriculum.
The group was coordinated by the artist and Professor MIchelle Murillo, who was an artist-in-residence at ´ace in 2008.
The group of students participated in intense days in the de’ace workshops taking classes with our masterprinter on different graphic techniques and printing techniques. The students edited an exchange portfolio with the work of each Program participant as closure and testimony of the study trip.
The program of activities was completed with a last intense three-hour day, in which we had the visit of the Argentine artist Lux Linder, with whom they carried out a critique and clinic of the work. The program also included visits to workshops of other artists and students in Buenos Aires and a visit to the Lux Lindner workshop, thus being able to approach the work of the outstanding Argentine artist.
Tours of the main places and neighborhoods of the city, such as El Abasto, Puerto Madero, Recoleta, La Boca, Palermo, Belgrano, Chinatown, were planned within the program.
They visited the Recoleta Cultural Center, MNBA, MALBA, Enrique Larreta Museum, Tigre Museum, PROA Foundation, among others.
They enjoyed a night of show at Señor Tango, in Puerto Madero.
They also took a boat trip through the Tigre Delta and a typical Argentine ranch in San Antonio de Areco, Province of Buenos Aires, Estancia La Cinacina, to learn more about the culture of our country.
Related artists
University of Texas at Arlington, USA
Teacher
Michelle Murillo
Students
Shanna Snow | Andrea Flores | David Vasquez | Lyndee Davis | Curtis Jackson Davis | Tanya Wilson | Tabitha Candelaria | Kevin Jacobs | Anne Michelle Riles | Erica Guajardo
´aceNITE
Crossings
Artists in dialogue
04.06.08
Crossings emphasized interrelationships between the installations of two American artists of different generations and with different concerns. However, the works they did during their residency with us, express some common ground where the dimensions of time, space, knowledge and geographical movements are implicit.
Suzan Shutan claims that being 5 foot tall and possibly having a Napoleon complex, it is not easy for her to create such large works. The artist comes from the field of sculpture and is passionate about creating spaces (often deceiving the eye) and inmersive site-specific installations. It always starts with materials found in “the corner store”, in this case straws, wool, light wood sticks or packages of metallic and opaque colored paper. Her leafy imagination awakens our senses while she describes with humor and self-criticism her ignorance of an Argentina that was imagined, before residence, in her home in Connecticut. Thus, she represents the Iguazú Falls only with a wavy line that reflects multiple colors on the wall, whose movement and sounds are similar to water, or the Boca and River soccer clubs with hexagons of wooden sticks that resemble soccer balls. Her sculptural works are understood at the same time as drawing, since it is the line that creates the volume.
On the other hand, Michelle Murillo is an artist who comes from printmaking but who constantly seeks to expand the vocabulary of print and the multiple in an interdisciplinary context. Her work can be broadly understood as a practice of archiving: the lost, found, re-membered and collected. Her installation is exquisite and elegant. The transparency of the glass with opaque silkscreen prints on top and its reflections on the space is poetic and at the same time ungraspable, like the memories it evokes.
Related artists
“I literally attempt to draw one into an illusion using an array of unrestricted and extraordinary visual effects and materials. My line is string, or flagging tape, or masking tape or wire with elements off the ends such as cubes or poms”.
Suzan Shutan
International Projects
Wintermester 2010
UTA @ ´ACE
29.12.10 13.01.11
For the second consecutive year on December 30, 2010 we received a group of students from the University of Texas at Arlington, USA, who arrived to Buenos Aires with their Professor Michelle Murillo. Michelle was Artist-in-residence at ´ace in 2008.
In this interesting & exciting Study Abroad Program, participants were around the city visiting the main cultural sights & attractions, take classes in our workshops and immersed in Argentinean culture.
This Program allows students to learn non-toxic and innovative printmaking techniques while making new works. They will be also be influenced by the museums, galleries and Argentine artists studio they will visit. In addition, the Program includes experiening an authentic Pampa´s day and other places of traditional interest around the city.
Related artists
Universidad de Texas en Arlington, USA.
Professor
Michelle Murillo
Students
Maggie Moore | Erik Bedoya, | | Alan Linnstaedt | Brittany Crawford | Tonya Anderson | Tomas Renteria