'Empty Inside' by Muretz and Autops

Autops and Muretz both hail from Sao Paulo, Brazil and were originally brought together through a mutual love of graffiti. They quickly discovered that the natural flow of their encounters and sketching sessions, ideas and drawings came out in an unpretentious way, almost as if their characters were already alive and asking to be brought out of their minds into this world.

‘Empty Inside’ is presented as an analysis of the very nature of human behaviour. Autops black and white paintings illustrate scenarios which depict the internal world of our own psyche, analysing the ability to self relate and internalise thoughts. In contrast, Muretz’ work presents an internal emptiness and how this manifests on the world around the subject. He explores not only how humans interact with their space, but are also sometimes a reflection of the environment they exist within too.

These prevailing dialogues are explored not only by the outlined thematic concept, but also as a wider aesthetic statement too, through the commutual progression of their complementary styles. Since those first paintings on the street together, to this summative collaborative exhibition, five years of drawing sessions have passed by and developed this pair as a creative powerhouse casting a lens of introspection back onto us all.