Beatriz González Los papagayos (The Parrots) 1987
© Beatriz González
Since the 1960s, Beatriz González has appropriated images, mainly from print media, and reconstructed their formal aspects in order to alter their function. She has transferred images of master works onto used furniture pieces and other unorthodox materials, decentering their status as fine art. During the 1970s, Gonzalez’s work grew increasingly political as she engaged in what she later termed an art of denuncia (denunciation). She culled images from newspaper clippings of presidential figures collected over decades that implicated elected government officials and members of the military in wrongdoing. Los papagayos (The Parrots) arrays portraits of then President Belisario Betancur and members of the military as though in a frieze. Painted in a saturated red-pink hue, the faces are devoid of individual identity and repeated in an uninterrupted sequence, as if mechanically reproduced. The title suggests that history is repeating itself as corrupt rulers contribute to the civil conflict that has wracked the nation with violence for decades.
Identification
Title
Los papagayos (The Parrots)
Production Date
1987
Object Number
2012.51
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, gift of Jorge M. Pérez
Copyright
© Beatriz González
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2012.51
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Oil on paper
Dimensions
29 1/2 x 78 inches
Visual Description
Los Papagayos (The Parrots) is a by a Colombian painter named Beatriz Gonzalez. Painted in 1987, this artwork is oil on heavy paper and measures twenty-nine and a half inches tall by seventy-eight inches wide. These dimensions equal a rectangle that measures around two and a half feet tall by six and a half feet long. This painting is shown in landscape orientation, meaning its longer side runs parallel to the floor.
This painting has a wide horizontal format, being twice as long as it is high. Across the length of the paper are nine male faces. They are portraits of Colombia’s then President Belisario Betancourt and members of the military seen in profile. Painted in a flat, saturated red-orange hue, the faces are devoid of individual identity and repeated in an uninterrupted sequence, as if mechanically reproduced. Four of the faces are wearing bright yellow sunglasses. Several are wearing military officer caps depicted in shades of dark green and yellow. The blazers of their military uniforms also are the deep shades of green as their headgear, with yellow buttons and medals adorning their lapels and the fronts of their suit jackets. The title Los Papagayos suggests that history is repeating itself as corrupt rulers contribute to the civil conflict that wracked her home nation with violence for decades.
