TILBURG.- From 5 October 2024, De Pont will present the first solo exhibition of the iconic Colombian artist Beatriz González (1932) in the Netherlands. The undisputed grande dame of contemporary Latin-American art, González is often referred to as the painter of Colombia's collective memory. She is known as the region’s most important painter of the last half-century and has influenced generations of painters. Through her powerful, colourful and poetic paintings, she acts as a keen chronicler of her country’s often-violent history. Yet at the same time, her work displays a strong universal power of expression. War and Peace: A Poetics of Gesture provides an overview of the many decades of González’ impressive career, in which themes such as loss, sorrow and the human condition figure prominently. The exhibition also offers a new perspective on how González approaches bodies and gestures as vehicles for conveying emotion.

González preserves memories of events not mentioned in the history books. She uses her paintings, which imprint themselves on your imagination, to convey the experiences of generations of Colombians who have spent their entire lives in war’s stranglehold. From the very start of her career, González’ work has intimately incorporated the realities of Colombia, a country marked by instability, corruption and violence. Ongoing armed conflicts, including the ten-year civil war ‘La Violencia’ (1948-1958), the war between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla movement (1964-2016) and narco-violence have permanently altered her perceptions of Colombian society.

A vibrant, authentically Colombian palette

González has been appropriating existing images from Western painting, pop culture and photojournalism since 1962. As a result, her work has often been described as the Latin American version of pop art – an assertion the artist herself has always contested. With typical self-deprecation and humour, González prefers to call herself ‘a provincial painter’ instead. She works with a vibrant palette that reflects the colours of her country. In addition to traditional canvases, she explores alternative surfaces for her paintings such as mass-produced furniture, curtains and wallpaper.

Newspaper photos made sublime

González often bases her works on newspaper photos, which she collects in a vast personal archive. In fact, many of the highlights of this exhibition began with such newsprint images. For the early key work Los suicidas del Sisga no. 2 (1965) — part of a series by the same name — González took her inspiration from a wedding portrait eagerly circulated by Colombian newspapers after the newlywed couple in question jumped off the Sisga dam. González was intrigued by the pair’s tragic death and, visually, by the flattened fields of colour resulting from the low quality of the newspaper photo. She has rendered the image sublime, converting it into brilliant, saturated hues in a composition made up of carefully arranged colour fields. The result posed a stark contrast to the abstract works that dominated the international art world at the time.

The monumental curtain entitled Decoración de interiores (1981) (which was originally 140 metres long) is based on a series of photos taken of the then-president of Colombia at a party. Completely untroubled by his repressive policies, he was seen making toasts and merrily singing along with the other guests. González uses the curtain as a metaphor for the violence concealed behind a façade of glamour and faux respectability.

Gestures as vehicles for conveying emotion

Initially, González was able to view the events in her homeland with a degree of humour and ironic detachment. In the early 1990s, however, she adopted a darker and more radical standpoint in reaction to the growing number of atrocities and political incidents in Colombia. González captures her country’s painful history in portraits of sorrow and grief. Gestures expressing emotion began to take on increasing significance: her work started to include figures (usually anonymous women) in supplicating poses, weeping with their hands on their heads or carrying coffins holding the remains of their loved ones. Through the positions of their bodies, González effectively and powerfully conveys the pain, exhaustion and desperation these individuals feel.

Another example of this is Ceremonia de la caja (2010), part of the De Pont collection, which was inspired by the solemn ceremony organised by the Colombian government for the purpose of returning the remains of civilian casualties. It could also refer to the cargueros: soldiers and civilians who carry dead bodies in hammocks or sacks bound to sticks. González used her collection of newspaper clippings to create striking silhouette drawings, with Cargueros de Bucaramanga (2006) – also acquired by De Pont – as a prime example.

War and Peace

Two recent monumental paintings on canvas will be displayed in De Pont’s main gallery: Guerra (War) and Paz (Peace) (both 2022). Here, González addresses a new phase in Colombian history, one which began when the government and the guerillas signed a peace treaty in 2016. For many Colombians, according to the artist, this new period is marked by mourning and remembrance on the one hand and hope for reconciliation on the other. The two canvases underscore this contrast. In Guerra, González depicts a group of murdered sex workers, and in Paz, she portrays a group of indigenous people from the Kogi community. They are celebrating the restitution of their land. After sixty years of making art, González’ enduring fascination for the juxtaposition of chaos and beauty remains as vital as ever.

War and Peace: A Poetics of Gesture is being organised in cooperation with the MUAC in Mexico City, curated by Cuauhtémoc Medina and Natalia Gutiérrez. The exhibition will be displayed at the MUAC through 30 June 2024, after which it will travel on to De Pont, where a modified version will be on view from 5 October 2024.

Beatriz González
1932, Bucaramanga (CO)
Lives and works in Bogotá (CO)

González completed a Master’s in Fine Arts at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá (CO), which also awarded her an honorary PhD. She additionally received an honorary Master’s from the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín (CO). In 1966, González spent the better part of a year in the Netherlands, studying printmaking at the Academy for Visual Arts in Rotterdam. Her work has been exhibited in Colombia and elsewhere, largely in the Global South, since 1964. In the past 15 years, collections including Tate Modern, MoMA, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and De Pont museum have acquired her work as well. Besides her artistic practice, González is also a curator and researcher. She founded the education department of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogotá and served as its director from 1970 to 1983. Since 1977, she has also worked as a curator and researcher in the areas of museum studies and Colombian art history. González was also head curator at the National Museum of Colombia from 1989 to 2004. In 2006, the Colombian Ministry of Culture awarded her a decoration of merit for her entire oeuvre.

Solo exhibitions

A selection: Contrafiguras, Galería Casas Riegner, Bogotá (CO) (2022), Beatriz González: A Retrospective, Pérez Art Museum Miami (US) (2019), Beatriz González, 1965-2017, CAPC Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux (FR) (2017), Centro Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (ES), KW Berlin (DE) (2018) etc., Beatriz González: La comedia y la tragedia. Retrospectiva 1948-2010, Museo de Arte Moderno, Medellín (CO) (2011).

Group exhibitions

A selection: Arte para Bogotá. Escuela de Bellas Artes de los Andes 1955 – 1974, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá (CO) (2023), Another Energy: Power to Continue Challenging - 16 Women Artists from around the World, Mori Art Museum. Tokyo (JP) (2021), Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (US) (2018), documenta 14, Kassel (DE) (2018), The world goes Pop, Tate Modern, London (UK) (2015), 8e Berlin Biennale, Berlin (DE) (2014), Arts, politics, religion. Contemporary artists from Colombia, Barbican Center, London, UK (1996), 1e Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (KR) (1995), 38e Venice Biennale (IT) (1978), 11e Saõ Paulo Biennale, Saõ Paulo (BR) (1971).