Beatriz González at the Barbican: brilliantly coded art that evaded the secret police
Jennifer Higgie | Financial Times | 3rd March 2026
Although she didn’t see herself as a “political” artist, González did want viewers of her work to “feel assaulted”. Her paintings have a declarative style – graphic forms in vivid colours that reimagine media images. Despite their pop aesthetic, they are not optimistic works as they often address Colombia’s drug violence, state brutality and the disappearing of people. By the late 1990’s González’ work started using glowing blues, deep purples, the colours of sorrow. “I am all the [bereaved] mothers together”.