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At the age of 18 Van Muriel enrolled in
the Art Institute of Fine Arts of Medellin,
where he studied classical music and art
for two years, when he would curiously
analyze the suggestive figures of Boris
Vallejo’s illustrations. However, his true
identity developed from personal research
and investigative nature with different
techniques and media.
He also explains that being from Colombia
helped him find great mentors during his
artistic development, when he had the
opportunity of meeting, for example, master
Luis Caballero, and how his friendship with
other artists helped him have a fuller selftaught
process, learning the importance of
erring in order to solve the big questions
that would later improve his work.
Van Muriel enthusiastically mentions his
great affinity for the work of Lucian Freud
and Francis Bacon and of course great
masters such as Leonardo, Rembrandt
and Velazquez. A great lesson he shares as
advice for fellow artists, is to not let oneself
be compromised by current commercial
trends, but have an impermeable insistence
to the art, something, he clarifies, is not an
easy task.
“Through the years I was able to realize
the influence of artistic concepts in almost
everything I know and see in society
and in my personal development. I am
definitely curious about aesthetics, so I
feel as a craftsman of forms. We owe it to
the great artists before us who took risks
with their ideas and feelings, opening
the doors to those of us who see art as a
labor, and therefore need an audience that
can discern between cheap consumerist
disposable art and true art”.
Follow Ervin Van Muriel on instagram:
@van_muriel
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