Empalizada 2001

Beatriz González made this moving painting, Empalizada, with oil on canvas. It’s a powerful image with strong, flat colours – that almost glowing yellow and intensely saturated blue. I can just imagine González in her studio, wrestling with this scene, trying to capture something profound about human vulnerability. The blue figure, arched in this desperate position, they are a striking focal point, and the surface they kneel on is so solid and flat. It’s a kind of sacrifice, maybe? Look at those shadowy faces looming in the background. It reminds me a little of Goya's dark paintings, where figures are often caught in moments of intense emotion. I think the artist is hinting at a story of suffering. Painting is like an exchange of ideas. It's a way of working through feelings, and finding a way to say something meaningful. Artists are always in conversation, building on each other's work, and creating new ways of seeing and feeling.