“Geometry is wisely perfect, on the contrary, there are imperfections in reality. I am interested in the imperfect. Crooked, bent lines that break. I used to paint geometry with a pencil with a single thickness, simply perfect, and then I stopped. Now is imperfect, it is more expressive”
-José González Veites
Born in 1957, the artist José González Veites is one of the main figures of geometric abstractionism in Mexico. He studied at the San Carlos Academy to continue his career in Europe later.
His work is distinguished by its layered oil and acrylic structures, compositions, lines, and textures in his iconic colors and textures. His work requires a lot of patience both for the painting process and for the discovery of all the details that can be found on his canvas. Some of the paintings have a process of 20 years.
Galería Hispánica presents the exhibition “How to sell dreams to a woman who doesn’t sleep?”, a body of mostly recent work, finished in 2024. The series of pieces, of different formats and colors, show an imperfect geometry of lines that break, are interrupted, crooked, and therefore become an expressive geometry.
The process of González Veites’ work is through dozens of layers of color, which are worked through painting a layer of color, sanding, and returning with the same process. In this way, the work comprises residues from previous pieces that accumulate. The transparency of the layers gives us depth and texture until we have the final work. Through this process of painting, sanding, and painting again, an abstraction is achieved that emphasizes light, color, and space.