Beatriz González
Zócalo del Duelo (Foundation of Mourning)
08 Jun - 26 Jul 2019
BEATRIZ GONZÁLEZ
Zócalo del Duelo (Foundation of Mourning)
8 June - 26 July 2019
Intervention in the streets of Zurich and in the gallery in collaboration with KiöR - Public Art Zurich:
- Quellenstrasse/ Röntgenstrasse
- Car Park Pfingstweid, Pfingstweidstrasse
- Rämistrasse/ Zeltweg
- Seilergraben/ Mühlegasse
Special opening hours during Zurich Art Weekend:
Friday, June 7, 10 am - 9 pm
Saturday, June 8, 10 am - 8 pm (Opening)
Sunday, June 9, 10 am - 6 pm
Monday, June 10, 10 am - 6 pm
„Si no hay duelo, no habrá paz“ (If there is no pain, there is no peace)
B. González
The installation Zócalo del Duelo (Foundation of mourning) by the Columbian artist Beatriz González (*1938 Bucaramanga, Columbia; lives and works in Bogotá) will be on show in the foyer of the gallery. Like a metre-high frieze several posters (typographic print on paper) with two repeating motifs will line the lower wall of the vestibule. At the same time these posters will be found at various locations in the city. The flatly applied, reduced colouring and the graphically strong, simplified contour lines lend the subject, as so often in González’s work, an appearance of deceptive banality. The concept of posters is reminiscent of her wall papers with which the artist has covered whole walls of institutions, such as at documenta 14 in Kassel. Such works take up key moments in the politically turbulent history of Columbia and, on the basis of the reproducible medium, make them into iconic symbols in the minds of those who see them. However, it is also a critical parody such as in her conceptually very similar work Zócalo de la Comedia (Baseboard of Comedy) from 1983, which showed ex-president Julio César Turbay awarding a medal to another person in caricatured solemnity. In the 1980s this poster was then found on the streets of cities such as Berlin and Bogotá. Zócalo del Duelo, refers to an event from 2015 as a peace agreement was signed which was intended to put an end to the armed conflict in the country that had lasted for more than fifty years. The two portraits of women moved by grief can thus be read as allegories of mourning in the face of the violence in the country and perhaps can also be seen as a homage to the grief that has already been overcome that the people had to go through in order finally to achieve peace.
The installation in the gallery is accompanied by a short video documenting the posters being hung in Bogotá und Zurich. The two motifs of the installation are also available as a framed diptych in a limited edition. The installation of the posters in Zurich was made possible with the support of “Kunst im öffentlichen Raum”.
Beatriz González‘s works are exhibited at leading institutions worldwide. Currently the Pérez Art Museum (PAMM) in Miami is showing a large-scale retrospective which will then transfer to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). A solo exhibition curated by Maria Inés Rodriguez was presented during 2017 - 2018 at CAPC Bordeaux, Museo de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid and Kunst-Werke, Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin. In 2017 three of the artist’s works were on show at documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel. Significant group exhibitions include Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980 at MoMA, New York and The World Goes Pop, at Tate Modern, London (both 2015). González’s works are represented in the collections of the following institutions: Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá; Museo de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; MFAH Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museo Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá; Tate Modern, London, to name but a few.
Zócalo del Duelo (Foundation of Mourning)
8 June - 26 July 2019
Intervention in the streets of Zurich and in the gallery in collaboration with KiöR - Public Art Zurich:
- Quellenstrasse/ Röntgenstrasse
- Car Park Pfingstweid, Pfingstweidstrasse
- Rämistrasse/ Zeltweg
- Seilergraben/ Mühlegasse
Special opening hours during Zurich Art Weekend:
Friday, June 7, 10 am - 9 pm
Saturday, June 8, 10 am - 8 pm (Opening)
Sunday, June 9, 10 am - 6 pm
Monday, June 10, 10 am - 6 pm
„Si no hay duelo, no habrá paz“ (If there is no pain, there is no peace)
B. González
The installation Zócalo del Duelo (Foundation of mourning) by the Columbian artist Beatriz González (*1938 Bucaramanga, Columbia; lives and works in Bogotá) will be on show in the foyer of the gallery. Like a metre-high frieze several posters (typographic print on paper) with two repeating motifs will line the lower wall of the vestibule. At the same time these posters will be found at various locations in the city. The flatly applied, reduced colouring and the graphically strong, simplified contour lines lend the subject, as so often in González’s work, an appearance of deceptive banality. The concept of posters is reminiscent of her wall papers with which the artist has covered whole walls of institutions, such as at documenta 14 in Kassel. Such works take up key moments in the politically turbulent history of Columbia and, on the basis of the reproducible medium, make them into iconic symbols in the minds of those who see them. However, it is also a critical parody such as in her conceptually very similar work Zócalo de la Comedia (Baseboard of Comedy) from 1983, which showed ex-president Julio César Turbay awarding a medal to another person in caricatured solemnity. In the 1980s this poster was then found on the streets of cities such as Berlin and Bogotá. Zócalo del Duelo, refers to an event from 2015 as a peace agreement was signed which was intended to put an end to the armed conflict in the country that had lasted for more than fifty years. The two portraits of women moved by grief can thus be read as allegories of mourning in the face of the violence in the country and perhaps can also be seen as a homage to the grief that has already been overcome that the people had to go through in order finally to achieve peace.
The installation in the gallery is accompanied by a short video documenting the posters being hung in Bogotá und Zurich. The two motifs of the installation are also available as a framed diptych in a limited edition. The installation of the posters in Zurich was made possible with the support of “Kunst im öffentlichen Raum”.
Beatriz González‘s works are exhibited at leading institutions worldwide. Currently the Pérez Art Museum (PAMM) in Miami is showing a large-scale retrospective which will then transfer to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). A solo exhibition curated by Maria Inés Rodriguez was presented during 2017 - 2018 at CAPC Bordeaux, Museo de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid and Kunst-Werke, Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin. In 2017 three of the artist’s works were on show at documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel. Significant group exhibitions include Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980 at MoMA, New York and The World Goes Pop, at Tate Modern, London (both 2015). González’s works are represented in the collections of the following institutions: Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá; Museo de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; MFAH Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museo Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá; Tate Modern, London, to name but a few.