“I did not want to be a lady who paints.” - Beatriz González This week, FEMINIST went inside the latest exhibition at the BarbicanCentre for the first UK retrospective of the legendary Colombian artist Beatriz González. Guided by assistant curator Diego Chocano, we explored over 60 years of a practice that proves history is not restricted to the frame, but is an embodied interaction that informs our present and future. Known in Colombia as ‘La Maestra’ (The Teacher), González was an artist, educator, and archivist who became the soul of a nation. As Diego noted during our tour, she was deeply interested in the “power of images and what happens when they circulate.” In a world currently surrounded by images of global war and state violence, it’s easy to scroll or turn the page. But Beatriz’s work demands that we spend time with these images, painting corruption and power exactly as it is: ugly, raw, and ongoing. Through her work, she questions state narratives and propaganda, often c...