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Using an invented formula, which consists of matching each letter of the alphabet to a number, Morales creates and designs machines that are both electrical and organic: cells, nuclei, atoms, etc. This Chilean artist, represented by the gallery since 2014, was the subject of a major exhibition in 2018 at the MAVI (Museo de Arte Visuale) in Santiago de Chile. In 2020, a set of his drawings will be exhibited at the Berlin Biennale. Already present in the abcd/Bruno Decharme (France) and Treger Saint Silvestre (Portugal) collections, his work has been reproduced in several publications.

portrait of oscar morales - © christian berst — art brut
Date 1951 —
Country Chile

Óscar Morales Martinez was born into a modest family in 1951 in Copiapó, in northern Chile. His father worked as a driver for the national mining company while his mother raised their six children. Like his brothers, he grew up in the town’s dusty streets, nevertheless completing both primary and high school. From an early age, he showed great interest in literature and the arts. 

At the age of 17, Morales served his three-year compulsory military service. When he finished, he began showing the first signs of paranoid schizophrenia. Between 1975 and 1995, he was hospitalized several times in a psychiatric institution before returning to Copiapó. His illness was sufficiently complex for him to be hospitalized there permanently. “It was my last hope of being saved,” he says.

He recalls that while confined to bed, he began to draw “in the sky” of his room. In 1999, Morales developed his famous “alphabetical and numerical valence formula” which he used to create machines and compulsively draw cells, nuclei, atoms and radios, using laptops and drawing on book covers and differently sized sheets of drawing paper. “I wanted to create something noble that would be useful for everyone. This mathematical formula is sophisticated; I invented it to improve and increase computer capacity”, he explains. 

In 2018, his work was the subject of a major exhibition at the MAVI (Museo de Arte Visuale) in Santiago de Chile.

Artworks
Please contact us to inquire about the available works.
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2012
20.87 x 14.57 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2012
22.83 x 16.54 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2012
20.87 x 14.57 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2012
14.57 x 20.87 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2012
14.57 x 20.87 in
untitled - © christian berst — art brut
untitled, 2012
20.87 x 14.57 in
Catalog
Do the write thing read between the lines #2
Catalogue published to mark the exhibition *Do the write thing #2 : read between the lines *, christian berst art brut, Paris, 2018. - © christian berst — art brut

Preface : Eric Dussert
Foreword : Christian Berst
Catalog published to mark the exhibition Do the write thing : read between the lines #2, from April 26th to June 2nd, 2018.

Exhibitions
Culturas Paralelas:
works from the treger saint silvestre collection, Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto, Portugal. From February 17 to April 22, 2023.
endless nameless,
curator : Léo Guy-Denarcy. From September 9 to October 2, 2022.
Power(less)
DOX centre d'art contemporain, Prague. June 3, 2022.
do the write thing :
read between the lines #3, main gallery. From April 2 to May 22, 2022.
Eureka !
Centro de arte Oliva, Portugal. From July 23, 2021 to August 27, 2022.
View more
11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
Epilogue , Berlin. From September 5 to November 1, 2020.
In the flesh
real bodies, at the gallery. From June 14 to July 11, 2020.
drawing now 2019
Carreau du Temple. From March 27 to 30, 2019.
do the write thing 2
read between the lines, at the gallery. From April 26 to June 2, 2018.
Exposicion radio estacion locura
Musée des Arts Visuels, Santiago du Chili. From February 3 to May 3, 2018.
heterotopias
architectural dwellings, at the gallery. From December 9, 2017 to January 20, 2018.
Art Brut
A Story of Individual Mythologies, Treger Saint Silvestre Collection, Portugal. From January 1 to February 26, 2017.
Brut Now
art brut in the technological era, Belfort Museums . From October 29, 2016 to January 16, 2017.
PreTENse
at the Gallery. From September 12 to October 10, 2015.
do the write thing
read between the lines, new york gallery. From October 30 to December 21, 2014.
Latin American Art
Hamer Gallery, Amsterdam. From November 30, 2013 to January 4, 2014.
beyond the boundaries saison 2013
discoveries and recent acquisitions, at the gallery. From September 7 to October 12, 2013.
christian berst art brut booth, *drawing now art fair,* le carreau du temple, paris, from march 28th to 31st, 2019 - © © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
Exhibition view of *in the flesh : veritable bodies*, christian berst art brut, Paris, 2020 - © ©christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
christian berst art brut booth, *drawing now, focus artist : josef hofer*, le carreau du temple, paris, from march 28th to 31st, 2019 - © © christian berst art brut, christian berst — art brut
Exhibition view *Do the write thing #3 , read between the lines *, christian berst art brut, Paris, 2022 - © christian berst — art brut
Press review
de l’art brut art high-tech
Stéphanie Lemoine, L’oeil. January 10, 2017.
un musée d’art brut ouvre au Portugal
Roxana Azimi, Quotidien De L’art. July 1, 2014.
Collections
Carmen and Daniel Klein collection
Switzerland
Antoine Frérot collection
France
abcd / Bruno Decharme collection
France
Treger Saint Silvestre collection
Portugal
Piet Meyer collection
Switzerland
Oscar Morales

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