Oscar Muñoz

Oscar Muñoz was born in 1951 in Popayán, Colombia
He currently lives and works in Cali, Colombia

Muñoz graduated from the Escuela de Bellas Artes in 1971, and has developed his career through a prolific investigation of post-modern methods of representation, using non-conventional photographic and mechanical printing techniques and video. He created a singular imagery and historiography by using transient mediums such as human breath, water, dust and fire, focusing on the precarious reality of human life

Oscar Muñoz has had solo exhibitions at international institutions such as the MAMBO, Bogotá (2025); Blanton Museum of Art, Austin (2022); Phoenix Art Museum (2021); Hasselblad Foundation, Göteborg (2018); MAMM, Medellín (2018); Tabakalera, San Sebastian (2015); Jeu de Paume, Paris (2014); Museo del Banco de la República, Bogotá (2014); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico (2014); MALI, Lima (2013); MALBA, Buenos Aires (2012); Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (2012); Bildmuseet, Umea (2009); among others.

His work has also been featured in numerous group shows at Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles (2017, 2024); CAAC, Sevilla (2024); MAMM, Medellín (2023); Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (2023); MAMBO, Bogotá (2021); Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (2013, 2020); Louvre Abu Dhabi (2019); Les Abattoirs, Toulouse (2017); ICA, Portland (2016); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); CAC, Cincinnati (2015); Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (2015); MFA, Boston (2014); Museo Amparo, Puebla (2014); MoMA, New York (2013); Fondation Cartier, Paris (2013); SFMOMA, San Francisco (2012); Denver Art Museum (2011); Philadelphia Museum of Art (2010); Caixa Foundation, Barcelona (2010); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2010); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2009); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2008); among many others. He has also participated twice in the Venice Biennale (2005 & 2007).

Muñoz’s works are in important public and private collections including the MoMA, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris; Musée du Quai Branly, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Hirschhorn Museum, Washington DC; SF MOMA, San Francisco; MALBA, Buenos Aires; and Fundacion La Caixa, Barcelona.

In 2018, Oscar Muñoz was awarded the Hasselblad Foundation Award, and he received the Prince Claus Award in 2013.

Download CV

Desmaterializaciones, 2018 (Exhibition view, Fundacio Sorigue, Lleida, Spain)El Coleccionista, 2014 (3 channel video installation, color, sound, with shelves and papers – Exhibition view, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, 2016)Protographies, 2014 (Exhibition view, Jeu de Paume, Paris)Protographies, 2014 (Exhibition view, Jeu de Paume, Paris)Ambulatorio Belfast, 2012 (Aerial photographs encapsuled in security glass – Installation view, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, 2012)Aliento, 1995 (9 Silkscreens on metal mirrors – Exhibition view, Louvre Abu Dhabi, 2019)Aliento, 1995 (9 silkscreens on metal mirrors – Detail)Aliento, 1995 (9 silkscreens on metal mirrors – Exhibition view, Institute of International Visual Arts, London, 2012)El Juego de las probabilidades, 2007 (Series of 12 Archival Pigment Prints – Exhibition view, Fundacio Sorigue, Lleida, Spain, 2018)El Ejercicio de la Empatia – Fernell Franco, 2016 (Single channel Video Installation, color, sound with intervened photographs on table – Exhibition view, Fondation Cartier, Paris, 2016)Cortinas de baño, 1994 (Acrylic on plastic – Installation view, Perez Art Museum, Miami, 2014)Impresiones débiles, 2001 (Series of impressions with coal dust on methacrylate – Exhibition view, Jeu de Paume, Paris, 2014)Protographies, 2014 (Exhibition view, Jeu de Paume, Paris)País/Tiempo, 2007-2011 (Pyrography on paper – Installation view, Museo de Arte del Banco de la Republica, Bogota, 2014)País/Tiempo, 2007-2011 (Pyrography on paper – Detail)Ambulatorio, 1994-2008 (Aerial photographs encapsuled in security glass – Exhibition view, O.K. Centrum, Linz, Austria, 2009)Biografias, 2002 (Video installation, black and white, sound – Exhibition view, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2010)Proyecto para un memorial, 2004-2005 (5 Channel video installation, color, mute – Exhibition view, Venice Biennale, 2007)Pixels, 1999-2000 (Coffee stained sugar cubes)linea_del_destino_oscar_munoz_desmaterializaciones_fundacio_sorigue_cortesia_de_oscar_munoz_38746064950_oDoméstico, 2016-2017 (Polished marble)4×3, 2016-2017 (Remains of photographs mounted on paper, framed – Exhibition view, mor charpentier, Paris, 2017)4×3, 2016-2017 (Remains of photographs mounted on paper, framed – Detail)Lacrimarios, 2000-2001 (Series of Glass containers with water, charcoal dust – Detail)A Traves del Cristal, 2008-2016 (Video installation, color, sound, with framed LCD screens – Exhibition view, Jeu de Paume, Paris, 2014)A través del cristal, 2008-2016 (Video Installation, color, sound, with framed LCD screens – Installation view, mor charpentier, paris, 2017)