Los papagayos 1986

Beatriz González made 'Los papagayos' using bold colors to flatten figures into near-abstract shapes. I love the way she simplifies everything! The juicy, almost unnaturalistic color palette is fantastic. Look at the way the red faces pop against the green uniforms, all held together by a kind of lavender haze. Notice the surface; it's not about blending or hiding the brushstrokes. González seems to embrace the directness of the medium, letting each stroke build the image. Take the sunglasses on the figure on the front left: just a few confident strokes of orange, and suddenly, we have a character emerging. González is not afraid to be playful but also politically astute, much like, say, Philip Guston in his later, more cartoonish works. And like Guston, she invites us to see the world with fresh eyes, finding beauty and meaning in the everyday.