Crummy Gummy
June 24th, 2020
Both a street artist and contemporary photographer, Mauricio Murillo (aka. Crummy Gummy) mixes popular culture, identity and a social conscience to create his bold and often emotive artworks. Public Offerings Ltd. caught up with the artist to talk finding models on the street and celebrating his 90 year old Nana.
POL: First up, can you give our readers a short introduction to yourself, your background and why the alias “Crummy Gummy”?
CG: My name is Mauricio Murillo and I'm a contemporary photographer based out of Orlando, FL. One of the first series I ever created involved gummy bears that were constantly hurting each other and treating other gummies poorly. That slowly turned into me doing more street art and I wanted a name that was easy to remember and funny to say. Despite how much my art has evolved throughout the years, I still use it as an alias in my work.
POL: Your art crosses lots of mediums - street art, photography, sculpture, digital art - how do you find these different mediums interact and inform each other?
CG: I feel each is a great representation of my personality and when I moved from one to another it was always because I wanted to try something new.
Each of those mediums brought a new way to deliver whatever it was I was trying to say with my art. All are connected through me, so it was never something I thought about but instead just part of my journey as an artist.
POL: Through your street art bring your photography out into the real world though wheat pasting on streets, billboard and public spaces. Do you use the context of where your work is going as inspiration for your creation and process?
CG: That's a very good question. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. When I learned I was going to Albuquerque, New Mexico, I knew I wanted to play with the idea of using Walter White from Breaking Bad (one of the best shows of all time, fight me if you disagree) into the work. Same goes with my Mars Attacks piece from when I went to Las Vegas.
POL: There is a focus in much of your work on popular culture, from comic books to blockbuster movies, often presented with a sardonic sense of humour. How do you decide what you’ll be using as inspiration for your work? How do you juggle your style and output, with what is an un-ironic love for many elements of what some describe as “nerd culture”?
CG: Many times, it's referencing what I’m enjoying at the time. I’m definitely a Movie/Comic nerd and I love pop culture. It brings me a lot of joy in my life. Often, I would take what I currently am enjoying and figure out how I can make it relatable to what's happening in the real world. For example, my E.T. No Home piece came about from imagining an instance where E.T. never left earth and instead tried to make a life out of his time here on our planet, but it all went horribly wrong and is now homeless. The real world kicked him on his ass and he is now overlooked in society. It uses popular culture to highlight an important social issue: the homeless are just forgotten people which our country ignores.
POL: When you’re not looking at popular culture, your portrait photography seems to really focus in on personal identity - Salad Days, highlights sitters who are discovering themselves through fashion and sexuality, and Air Heads saw creatives draw their inner-selves onto balloons to be photographed with - how do you get people to be so open when sitting for you?
CG: This definitely takes practice. One of the first things I do when people arrive at the studio, is that we just sit and have a conversation. We don’t talk about the shoot, but instead I try to really get to know this person in a short time frame. I do this by pretty much just asking questions and learning when to shut up. This really helps build a trust that will come in handy during the shoot. It has also gotten a little easier now that I have a body of work that they can see too, it helps them understand what to expect.
POL: How do you find your sitters?
CG: First thing, almost none of them are models. They are everyday people, often artists. I sometimes find models while I'm at the grocery store, an art show, or at my favourite Chinese restaurant. I strike up a conversation with them, I let them know I’m a photographer and ask if they would ever be interested in having their portrait taken.
Now, if you're reading this, I don't want to create this idea that I don't get nervous to do this - because I do. It's not easy to walk up to a stranger and ask to take their portrait. But I have been doing similar things to this for so long that it gets easier and if you come across like a fool when you try it, don't sweat it. You are never going to see that person again anyway, so who cares.
A great example of this is my photograph called Take out. While waiting in line to pick up my Chinese food I saw a young gentleman sitting with a friend who was styled with a custom jacket that shined when the sun hit it. I remember being so curious about why he was dressed so nice at this small restaurant. I complimented him on his outfit and we made some small talk. Next thing I know I'm doing a photoshoot in the middle of this restaurant.
You never know what can happen because this photo was recently chosen by the British Journal of Photography to be included in their new book, Portrait of Humanity 2. This would never have happened if I didn't talk to this stranger that I found interesting. You just never know where your next photograph can come from!
“ You just never know where your next photograph can come from!”
POL: We’ve fallen a little in love with your grandma through your work, can you tell us a little about shooting and collaborating with her?
CG: Thank you and you're definitely not the only one. Nana has been my number one supporter in life. I can do no wrong in this beautiful women’s 90-year-old eyes.
Ever since my grandpa died it has been a struggle for her, especially in the beginning. Imagine the person who has been your partner in life for over 50 years has passed away! I can't even comprehend what that might feel like. I started noticing she would sometimes start to get depressed and sad, so I wanted to cheer her up and I thought playing dress up for a photoshoot would be fun. I bought her a bunch of fun outfits from goodwill mixed with items from my travels and we had fun photoshoots.
She had such a good time and then when I started showcasing them online, they started to get popular and getting accepted into art shows. She was so amused by this. Our extended family would call her up to let her know how much they loved it. The most fun was taking her to the Orlando Museum of Art when they showcased my portrait of her, and people kept stopping her because she would get recognised from the photograph. This brought me so much joy because I could see she was really enjoying the moment and I now have these amazing stories/photographs with her.
POL: What are you working on right now? What’s next?
CG: Covid-19 definitely slowed things down a bit, but I plan to continue my Salad Days series in hopes to get it published in book form. I have also started taking more portraits outside of the studio to switch things up, so I think I will continue to do that as well this year.
About Mauricio Murillo (aka. Crummy Gummy)
Mauricio Murillo, also known as Crummy Gummy, is an American photographer and street artist from Florida. His street art uses iconic images from childhood like the gummy bear, a recurring theme in his work, and combines them with the realities of modern adult life like unemployment, violence and war.
His works can be found all throughout North and South America, in places such as Orlando, FL; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Mexico City, MX; Rio de Janeiro, BR and other cities, as well as in collaboration with other artists like Manny Romero, Atomic Vomit and Boy Kong throughout the United States.
Murillo’s photography work often focuses on Florida and the people that reside there. It has been exhibited around the USA including at the Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, Louisiana, and Los Angeles Centre of Photography, Los Angeles, California. He has been published in Create Magazine, Uncoated, Bored Panda and The Culture Trip and is the winner of the PDN: Emerging Photographer Award, 2019.