Marisa González Premio Velázquez 2023

October 24, 2023

Pioneer of new technologies. Feminist. 

She studied for a master's degree in 1973 at the Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Generative Systems and in 1976 at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C., where she presented for the first time the series 'Violence Woman'. 

The Washington Post had published a terrible story. Women imprisoned for political reasons in Pinochet's Chile were being raped and tortured. This triggered an anger and a need to protest in Marisa's teacher (Mary Beth), her classmates and herself. Marisa's protest was this exhibition where they all posed and where she began what would become a brilliant career. Feminism and technology. The pain of these faces was printed on thermofax, a new technology and format associated with photocopying. It was 1975.

Marisa González, born in Spain (Bilbao) in 1943, has lived and worked practically all her life in Madrid.  However, her closeness and love for Bilbao have always been present.

Practically all her projects are concerned with the injustice of women all over the world. From those Chilean women imprisoned  to the exploitation of Filipino women in Hong Kong. Likewise, the social character of her work has led her to document industrial environments and the problems implicit in them, including the Lemoniz Nuclear Power Plant.

Her life is a continuous support for women, to the extent that she has authored hundreds of Wikipedia entries of women around the world. 

We are proud of this award that recognises the work of this artist that we had the honour of presenting at ARCO 2023, making her work part of the MNCARS (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía) collection.