What Is Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color at the Art Institute of Chicago?

Short answer

Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color opens at the Art Institute of Chicago on November 15, 2026 (member preview November 14) and runs through March 1, 2027. It is the first retrospective of the drawings and prints of the Colombian artist known at home as la maestra, with more than 80 works, some shown publicly for the first time.

Key facts

• Who: Beatriz González (1932–2026), the Colombian artist, historian, curator and mentor whose influence reaches far beyond her country.
• What: Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color — the first retrospective of her drawings and prints: more than 80 works, including sketches, sketchbooks, objects and archival material.
• Where: The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
• When: November 15, 2026 – March 1, 2027; member preview November 14.
• Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday–Sunday 11 AM–5 PM; Thursday 11 AM–8 PM; closed Tuesday. General admission $32 for adults, with reduced rates.

Who was Beatriz González?

In Colombia, González is called la maestra — a mark of respect that goes past the literal “teacher” to acknowledge her roles as artist, historian, curator and mentor across more than six decades, until her death earlier this year. Her subject was the life of images themselves: how they circulate through newspapers, crime pages, commercial prints and popular culture, and what they do to memory and taste.

What will you see?

The exhibition begins with a pivotal 1965 moment: González found a newspaper photograph of a couple who had died by suicide, already distorted by having been reproduced from another newspaper, and painted her own interpretation. The Suicides of Sisga set her method — appropriation and repetition as formal and conceptual strategies — and her “deliberately clumsy” style, which both displayed her command of drawing and printmaking and rebelled against what fine art in Colombia was supposed to look like. Later works such as the letterpress diptychs Frieze of Comedy and Frieze of Tragedy (both 1983) turn toward presidents and military leaders, and toward the often anonymous victims of political violence and climate disaster.

Why the title — and why now?

The title borrows the Spanish promotional phrase “¡ahora en serie y a todo color!” — “now in series and full color!” — once used to announce a comic strip’s leap to color television: an idiom for both her palette and the continued urgency of her themes. Curated by Mark Pascale and Felipe Villada Ruiz of the museum’s Prints and Drawings department, the survey is the first time some of these works are shown to the public — a chance to read an artist who spent her career asking how images shape what a country remembers.

How do you visit?

The Art Institute of Chicago is at 111 South Michigan Avenue (the Modern Wing entrance is at 159 East Monroe Street). The museum opens at 11 AM; closing is 5 PM every open day except Thursday, when it stays open until 8 PM, and it is closed on Tuesdays. Adult general admission is $32, with reduced rates for seniors, students and teens, and lower resident rates. Members get the first hour, 10–11 AM, every day — and a preview day on November 14, before the public opening on November 15.

FAQ

When does Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color open?

November 15, 2026, with a member preview on November 14. It runs through March 1, 2027.

Does it cost anything?

The exhibition is included with museum admission: $32 for adults, with reduced rates for seniors, students, teens and residents.

What are the hours?

Monday, Wednesday and Friday–Sunday 11 AM–5 PM; Thursday 11 AM–8 PM; closed Tuesday.

Why is she called “la maestra”?

The term goes beyond “teacher”: in Colombia it marks someone whose impact — in her case as artist, historian, curator and mentor — transcends borders.

About Antre

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Sources

• Art Institute of Chicago, exhibition page for Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color: dates, works, curators and the exhibition’s history.
• Art Institute of Chicago, visit page: hours, admission prices and entrances.

More context: our guides to Charles White Across Media at the Logan Center and Zombie at Chicago Artists Coalition.