Was born in Valparaíso, Chile. He was forced to leave his country for political reasons – suspending his studies at the Santiago’s Escuela de Bellas Artes, he crossed Latin America and arrived to Paris in 1977, where we was welcome by leading artists such as Lam, Cárdenas and Matta. In 1982 he participated in the latin-american art exhibition which was held at the Grand Palais in Paris, which was historical for its dimension and wherethe group Magie Image composed by Cogollo, Aresti, Kaminer, Zarate, Cuevas and Murua was officially constituted. Mario Murua’s colorful images are inspired by the artifacts of his native Chile, particularly the pre-Columbian weavings and pottery, updated with stylistic references to contemporary life. These paintings, along with the sculpture and works on paper, came to the gallery directly from the artist’s one-person exhibition at the Boca Raton (Florida) Museum of Art. Mario Murua terms his visual language “canimagísmo,” coined from his concept of the artist’s cannibalistic absorption of images from both nature and people. When he was forced to flee Chile, his travels through South America included stays with indigenous groups, whose influence can be found in his work.
