Colombian Painter Beatriz González, Known for Depicting Collective Memory, Dies at 93
Colombian artist Beatriz González, a pivotal figure in Latin American contemporary art, passed away on January 9 at 93 in her home. Renowned for her vibrant color use and innovative application of furniture as a canvas, she explored Colombia’s collective memory by visually interpreting the nation’s history, focusing on political events, violence, and loss. Her passing was confirmed by her gallery, Casas Riegner in Bogotá.
Though her iconography, infused with elements from popular culture, draws comparisons with Pop Art, González clarified that this was a misinterpretation of her work. While contemporaries like Andy Warhol and Richard Hamilton mirrored consumer culture, González’s art was rooted in Colombian visual traditions, exploring the intricate ties between taste and social class.
Starting in 1962, she drew from classical artworks by Diego Velázquez and Johannes Vermeer, incorporating them onto industrial furniture. She later gained inspiration from newspaper images and chromolithographs by Gráficas Molinari. González used these elements to grasp how images shaped individual tastes.
“I realized that there’s a certain pleasure in observing gaudy and tasteless objects,” González remarked during a 2020 interview. “Kitsch is part of my work.”
González’s focus on violence and trauma culminated in works such as “Auras anónimas” (“Anonymous Auras”) (2007–09) at Bogotá’s Central Cemetery. The piece, created to preserve columbaria threatened by demolition, featured 8,957 headstones with silhouettes dedicated to Colombia’s vanished. “It relies on repetition as memory preservation,” she explained.
In addition to her art, González was a scholar and critic with a passion for 19th-century landscape painting. Born on November 16, 1932, in Bucaramanga, she moved to Bogotá for architecture studies at the National University in 1956. She later worked on educational programs at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá and as chief curator at the Museo Nacional de Colombia, studying under notable figures like Juan Antonio Roda and Marta Traba. González, who formed enduring relationships with fellow artists such as Luis Caballero, was noted for her original voice even when influenced by contemporaries like Fernando Botero.
Throughout her career, González maintained that she was a “provincial artist,” yet her work resonated globally. “She does not seek to be ‘modern’ in the New York sense; she seeks to be truthful in the Colombian sense,” Traba once stated.
González’s international presence included participating in events like the 11th São Paulo Biennial and Documenta 14. In 2019, a retrospective organized by the Pérez Art Museum Miami and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, highlighted her global influence.
Her legacy continues, as noted by curators like Barbican Art Gallery’s Lotte Johnson, who praised González’s enduring relevance and impact. Her gallerist, Catalina Casas Riegner, remains committed to promoting her works, acknowledging that much remains to be explored.