Prestel Publishing Oscar Murillo

What happens when the radical beauty of Claude Monet’s late paintings meets the political tensions of the present? Interdisciplinary artist Oscar Murillo explores that question in a sweeping body of work that reimagines perception, power, and place through the language of mark-making. At its core is surge (social cataracts) —a series of large-scale, visually arresting paintings that echo Monet’s Grainstacks , Houses of Parliament , and Water Lilies, while confronting the political dimension of seeing and not seeing by positing darkness as a space of speculation for a new reading of impressionism. These works appear alongside further paintings by Murillo as well as his long-running Frequencies project, created in collaboration with schoolchildren across the globe, and participatory pieces that extend his practice beyond the studio and into the public realm. The result is a layered meditation on visibility, landscape, and the politics of artistic labor—across borders and generations. Designed with a modern flair to reflect the energy and ambition of the project, the book includes full-bleed plates, striking installation photography, and images from community-based projects. Both a record of a major artistic undertaking and a reflection of Murillo’s socially engaged approach, it offers an immersive look at a practice that is as materially rich as it is conceptually urgent.