Los papagayos 1986

Here are the parrots, or Los papagayos, by Beatriz González. Wow, these uniform-wearing figures, rendered in such an intense palette of reds, greens and purples, really make a statement. You can imagine González, brush in hand, layering each colour block with intention. The application isn’t shy—it’s bold and direct, which somehow makes the piece more powerful. I wonder, what was González thinking when she made this? Maybe about the relationship between repetition and individuality, or about the visual language of power and authority. The hard blocks of colour remind me of Warhol but these parrots have a hard edge that speaks to a different experience of pop culture. The texture created by the flat blocks invites you to experience not just what the artist is saying but how the colours interact, the physical presence of the paint and the rhythm of the repeated forms. It's like she’s speaking to us across time, engaging in the never-ending conversation that is painting.