The Chef

Ervin van Muriel

This gifted artist was born and grew up in Medellin (1975).

Ervin lived for the flesh, the infamous years of Pablo Escobar, and has known tragedy. Two of his brothers were murdered. He could be bitter, but he is filled with love and a lust for life.

While he was painting in Medellin, Ervin got one of his artworks kidnapped. He needed help to rescue it and luckily got it back, because years later it would be sold for 90.000 USD to a Sotheby’s important collector from Miami, even before reaching the auction. 

Many find his work so compelling; he is possibly the youngest Latin American artist to have sold 4 of his works in a Sotheby’s Auction. His paintings hang in important collections throughout America and Europe.  

Sotheby’s: “Ervin van Muriel returns to origins. His sensitivity is touched by the purity and lucidity of the greatest Masters: Rembrandt, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Velázquez. His work is straightforward and passionate”.

The acclaimed singer Maluma has commissioned two works of art from Ervin van Muriel for his new home in Miami. One of the works to be featured on Architecture Digest Magazine as the front cover. 

Ervin van Muriel captures what other eyes cannot see immediately. His style is recognized as contemporary realism. But he is a multifaceted artist, with works revisiting Baroque, Rococo, Cubism, Surrealism, Neoclassicism, Expressionism, and even commission work exploring street art highlighted throughout his classic imprint.

He holds dual nationality: Colombia and US. Ervin van Muriel enrolled in the Art Institute of Fine Arts of Medellin, where he studied classical music and art for two years. However, his true identity as an artist developed from his personal research and investigative nature with different techniques and mixed media. He is an autodidact artist.

Defined by key people in the Art as a ‘World Class Artist’, Ervin is salt of the Earth, totally without pretension. While viewing his works, it is obvious that you are standing before greatness.

Ervin himself would probably disagree. Instead, he would more likely point out that two or three previously painted images are hidden beneath the oil of the current painting. If he doesn’t like a sketch or a painting, he will tear it apart. His rep has witnessed people fishing his images out of the trash and piecing them together.

Ervin has a talent for finding the beauty in things people would generally tend to overlook, or even think ugly. He loves the human form and reveals it in all its glory, fearlessly exploring the fine line between agony and ecstasy. But he can also find the beauty in a worn, torn, and abandoned wing-backed chair. 

Solo Shows

§   Wally Findlay Galleries – Palm Beach.

§   “Recent Paintings” D&G Design Gallery – Miami.

§   “Pilgrim’s Eyes” Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York.

§   “Recent Acquisitions” Leslie-Lohman Gallery, New York.

Group Shows

§   Wally Findlay Galleries – Palm Beach.

§   ARTundressed Art Fair – Miami.

§   Erotic Signature Touring Exhibition:

Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Berlin, and London.

§   ”Colectiva” Galeria Forma y Color – Medellin.

§   “Colectiva” Galeria Duque Arango – Medellin.

§   “Colectiva” ArtXPress – Medellin.

§   “Colectiva” Palacio de la Cultura – Medellin.

Public & Private Collections

§   Leslie-Lohman Gallery – New York.

§   Queensborough Community College Art Gallery – New York.

§   Roberto Kazinski Collection – Miami.

§   Miami City Ballet – Miami.

§   Private collections in America and Europe.

Awards

Book Winner, Erotic Signature International Competition.

Bibliography & Media

§   “Ervin van Muriel” The World’s Greatest Erotic Art of Today-Vol. II.

§   “Ervin van Muriel” New York Arts Magazine.

§   “Pintor de Almas” Casa Tomada, New York.

§   “Un pincel colombiano en Sotheby’s” El Universo, Boston.

§   “Interview with Oswaldo Agudelo Fine Art” Telemundo, Miami.

§   “Enlace” Teleantioquia Channel, Colombia.

§   “Aqui Esta Lo Bueno” Teleantioquia Channel, Colombia.

§   “Conversacion con un Joven Pintor” Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

§   “Conversacion con un Joven Pintor” Universidad de Medellin, Colombia.

§   “Interview with Camilo Callejas” Colombia

https://www.instagram.com/gersainmuriel/