O for Óscar – The Line that Holds the World at Museum Ovartaci

The Line that Holds the World at Museum Ovartaci is an exhibition by the 71-year-old Chilean multi-artist Óscar Morales Martínez (b. 1951). The exhibition gives the viewer a broad view of Morales' life's work, by gathering works from different time periods and series. The contact came through a Chilean organization that works to give a voice to people who are often not heard.

Curator Paula Caballería Aguilera has presented his art around Europe in galleries and a biennial in Berlin. When the step had to be taken from gallery to art museum, the connection with Ovartaci almost arose by itself. Ovartaci and Morales come from two different continents and lifetimes and have never met. Yet you will see parallels between their lives and art. Like Ovartaci, Morales spent most of his life in a psychiatric institution, where he dedicated more than 3 decades to his art.

Order in chaos, calm in systems

As an artist, I must admit that Morales' productivity is enviable. Paula arrived with a whole suitcase full of drawings, so a large part of the work was to choose from. You can also sense on the walls that there is much more where it comes from. Morales sees the world differently than most of us. He sees the world through systems and numbers. The works have countless motifs: fantasy creatures, machines, architectures that range from church buildings to entire communities and cities, spaceships, birds, religious figures and many, many others. Despite the many motifs on a single paper, it does not seem overwhelming or chaotic. As I study each paper, his choice of colors, symmetry and when he has chosen to draw lines freehand rather than with a ruler, it is his systems and order in the chaos that fascinates me the most.

2 works in, I discover that his colors are not randomly placed. Whether he has thought about every single color for every single circle and square or whether his coloring runs as an automatic process after more than 3 decades as an artist, I cannot say. As an admirer of his art, I can say that his ability to put his inner and outer worldview down on paper through his systems is what drew me into each and every work.

Two drawings in particular stick with me a little longer. They are part of the series “Multipaisaje universal”, which means multifunctional landscapes. The first draws me in like an illusion, with its surrounding walls and eye-like center. However, with a calming effect from the choice of bilateral symmetry and repetitive structure. The second feels like a surreal dream, where I find myself in a recognizable environment. An environment in a world characterized by colors, in a better world.

The line that holds the world together

In the short film O de Óscar (2024), which is part of the exhibition, he describes how some of his works are formed from his dreams and how we become actors in our own dreams. In our dreams, our subconscious tries hard to find meaning in the reality we experience. As your eyes move from one drawing to the next, you will be able to sense that there is a completely different life lived behind each piece of paper. You will also notice that many of them include creatures. Some are recognizable animals from our world and others you will not be able to make a direct comparison to an existing animal. For Morales, his painted creatures mean that if something were to happen to him, he is not alone. They will always be with him, no matter where he ends up.

Many of the works are built around a circle in the middle with dots placed around it. Other works revolve around machines, buildings and complex structures. The interesting thing is that the works are not direct reproductions of reality. He does not copy existing buildings or machines. They are images from his own inner world that he translates onto paper. All works also contain text. Morales always writes on his works when they were made and what they contain, based on his own sign system. Although difficult to decode, it is an important part of his process.

Small universes behind eyes and self-invented machines

In some of his works, eyes, ears and facial features open up with their own little universes. It can be experienced as an attempt to visualize everything that goes on inside a person. Thoughts, emotions and inner turmoil take on a physical form and become an artistic expression for a difficult presence. You will also notice a recurring motif, which Ovartaci also made great use of. The bird is often associated with freedom and it is also my impression that it is used here as this symbol. Like Ovartaci, the swallow was used as a recurring motif.

Both artists also work with complex structures that can feel both technical and almost surreal at the same time. You will be able to feel Morales' fascination with machines and mechanical constructions. Using an invented formula that consists of matching each letter of the alphabet with a number, Morales designs and realizes machines that feel both organic and galvanic. The machines look utterly complex, but also clearly well thought out. They may remind you of machines you know from your own life. Mechanical, electronic, optical and chemical machines and processes where something is converted or transformed into something else.

The People's Poet

In the short film, there is a poem, “Chant to the Lion,” where Morales says that he would like to set the old lion free, but that he is just a child, with a heart still developing, and who only came to see the big show. As I listen to the reading of the poem, I get the feeling that he is the lion behind bars that his inner child is trying to free.

“Roar, roar, oh old king of this world
Roar, cry out for a better future
If you have a soul full of candor
How I would like to see you free, -Oh old Lion
But I am just a child barely with a heart,
I only came to see your great performance”

– Excerpt from “Chant to the Lion”

The poems in the short film give the viewer something important. It shows that each work has a story, a life, behind it. In 2012, he began to participate in Radio Estación Locura, a radio station founded by psychologist Ernesto Bouey and run by patients from the psychiatric institute Dr. José Horwitz Barak in Santiago de Chile. Morales had his own program “El poeta del pueblo” (The Poet of the People), where his poems were presented for the first time.

The art you participate in

The exhibition ends with an invitation. You see a table with markers and sheets of paper with people who have not yet been given their own colors. The people look like the ones you just walked around looking at. The same big round eyes. The same patterns and systems. Here you can color a person and leave a greeting on the lines below. All contributions are collected and sent to Morales in Chile. As a spectator at exhibitions, you often view art from a distance. For Morales, it is about connection, recognition, creating a relationship with the audience and contact across countries, languages ​​and life experiences.

Today, Morales lives in a sheltered home with residents who have become his family. Morales continues to find peace in art and calm in his systems, while showing us how, in an uncertain world, we can use art to inhabit and understand it.

If you want to experience the exhibition yourself

• Location: Museum Ovartaci
• Period: June 5 to October 18, 2026
• Curator: Paula Caballería Aguilera
• Produced by: Beatriz Salinas Marambio and Museum Ovartaci
• Tickets: 95 kr.