Place: Tunja
Born: 1938
Biography:
Beatriz González, born in 1932 in Bucaramanga, Colombia, is a renowned painter, sculptor, critic, curator, and art historian. She is often associated with the Pop Art movement, but she has never considered herself a part of it. Instead, she focuses on depicting life in Colombia during the war-torn period known as La Violencia.
González grew up in a time of social and political upheaval in Colombia. She enrolled in architecture school but dropped out and later graduated from the fine arts department at the University of Los Andes in 1962. Her teachers included Argentine art critic and historian Marta Traba and Spanish painter Joan Antonio Roda.
González's career took off when she created a painting entitled The Suicides of Sisga, which was initially refused at the 1965 Salon of Colombian Artists. However, after Marta Traba pressed the Jury to reconsider their decision, the painting was not only accepted, but González won a special prize for her work. This event helped launch her career. In the 1970s, González began working on various pieces of store-bought furniture, typically taking images from well-known Italian Renaissance and history paintings or pictures from the present day news media. She carefully coordinated her images with the furniture's function, such as painting the popes face on nightstands. In 1985, González's work took a dramatic stylistic shift towards darker imagery after the M-19 guerrilla attack on the Palace of Justice. She began to explore themes of death and the drug trade, as well as some of Colombia's most tragic events.
Some of González's notable works include The Birth of Venus, which is now housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Another work, Ángel Ana Isabel, is a fresco created in 1992 and is part of the Ibrahimi Collection in Amman, Jordan. González's work can be found on https://Wikioo.org, where her biography and artworks are featured. Her style is characterized by its vibrant colors and shapes, and she has been acknowledged for being a woman in a movement and country where many of her peers were men.
In conclusion, Beatriz González Aranda is a talented Colombian artist who has made significant contributions to the art world. Her unique style and willingness to explore themes of death and tragedy have set her apart from other artists. Her work can be found on https://Wikioo.org, where it continues to inspire and educate art enthusiasts around the world.