Mauricio Murillo Photography

Welcome back to The Expressionist Magazine

If you would have told Mauricio Murillo when he was in middle school that art would engulf his life and give him a new sense of purpose he probably would have laughed at you.  As a young man trying to find his way in a tough world, this native Floridian did what most young boys do in school; he was active in sports, all kinds from football to soccer and whatever else his school offered.  He admits that he dabbled in art in his younger days but it wasn’t a focus.  This just shows how you can’t say, “I’m never going to do it,” because you usually end up doing just that.

As he got older, Mauricio started to focus more on abstract art in college, and he really embraced it by saying it was a great creative release.  He was born into a family of artists, specifically his mother who did a lot of painting and whose style mimicked her home country of Columbia.  Mauricio’s art went down a few different paths as he grew his talent; one of those paths took an urban feel.  He really enjoyed the raw but rough graffiti he found on walls and such.  He incorporated graffiti into his work, just not on walls unless someone would ask him to.  He still loves graffiti but it isn’t his true focus anymore. Mauricio is excited that some of his graffiti will be appearing in a new book titled “Label 228″ set to hit shelves in October of this year.  You can get your copy on Amazon.com.

Photography came to Mauricio a few years ago in 2007 by a complete accident.  He noticed an ad in the newspaper for Artsploration, sponsored by the United Arts of Central Florida.  They were looking for photographs of Orlando including the Central Florida area.  He looked through his bag of work and found a photo he loved called “Eden.”  He figured why not, so he sent his application and photo in, then waited for the results.  A few weeks later the results came in, shocking him a bit. He won first place and a prize of $2000.00, not bad for a picture taken on Hills Avenue in Orlando.  This win opened his eyes and his passion for photography.

Like his art, the urban style fits the inspiration for his work.  He really focuses on things that people would take for granted, or takes things that you wouldn’t think of walking by to be beautiful, and makes them into masterpieces through his eyes.  With photography, the art is truly seen through the eyes of the photographer.  It’s the job of the photographer to take what they see and change the mind of the people who view the piece.  This is the challenge that Mauricio loves to accomplish with each and every piece.  A good example of this is his photo of a New York alley.

Mauricio remembers that day, he was in New York during some crazy weather.  It was raining and cold, and he was walking past an alley that wasn’t pretty and definitely taken for granted.  Thousands of people passed this alley everyday, never taking a second look. Mauricio saw something special and took a photo.  The result is one of his most favorite pictures he has taken to date and one of his most requested pieces.

Art isn’t the only thing Mauricio is passionate about. One of his current projects is working with Icla Da Silva Foundation, whose purpose is to help minority and under privileged families with children who suffer with leukemia. Based out of New York, Mauricio is very passionate to lend his talents to help this wonderful organization.  To find out more, check out their web site www.icla.org

To have Mauricio do a commissioned piece for you, or to check out his work, or just contact him, please visit his web site at www.mauriciomurillo.com or his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/mauriciomurillo