Tête au miroir 1934

This "Head with Mirror" sculpture by Julio Gonzalez, is made of iron and stone. The way Gonzalez assembles disparate materials reminds me that art making is often about putting different things together, both physically and conceptually. The roughness of the stone base supports a sleek, dark form that tapers upward. This contrasts beautifully with the delicate, almost whimsical ironwork above. Look at the iron elements: a circular form that holds a dark oval "mirror," and above, radiating lines like sunbeams or eyelashes. The textures are so different: rough, smooth, matte, shiny. The dark mirror, perhaps a void, invites you to see yourself, to think about what you reflect back to the world. It’s not a smooth mirror, it is something else... Gonzalez, like Picasso, was working at a time of intense experimentation. They were constantly pushing the boundaries of what art could be, showing us that meaning isn't fixed but emerges from the relationships between forms and materials.