We Grow Accustomed to the Dark
On Darkness and Haunting in the Work of Oscar Murillo
For each issue, GLEAN invites a Guest Editor to curate a section of the magazine. We interview them and ask them to invite three writers or artists who have influenced their practice (or who otherwise deserve our attention) to take up space in these pages. This Winter Issue’s Guest Editor, Oscar Murillo, invited Anna T. Pigott to contribute an essay.
In 2022, Oscar Murillo titled his solo exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery, New York, ‘Ourself behind ourself concealed’, a line borrowed from the poem One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted, by Emily Dickinson (1830–1886). Composed in 1862, Dickinson’s verse describes the horror of confronting the spectre of oneself as being more frightening than typical boogeymen:
One need not be a Chamber—to be Haunted—
One need not be a House—
The Brain has Corridors—surpassing
(…)
