Chilean muralist Alejandro “Mono” González’s work is on display at the Dublin Arts Council Sept. 30 through Oct. 30. Credit: Courtesy of Raygan Barrett
Chilean muralist Alejandro “Mono” González, recipient of the 2025 National Prize for Visual Arts by the Chilean Ministry of Culture, will visit Columbus from Thursday to Oct. 18 as part of the Dublin Arts Council’s Artist Residency.
His visit coincides with his exhibition at the council, which has been on view since Sept. 30 and runs through Oct. 30. His visit also includes a panel discussion and community mural painting.
Ava Morgan, director of public practice at the DAC, said local artist Adam Hernandez, whose artwork is inspired by González and is included in the exhibit, will be engaging the community in mural making throughout the exhibition. According to the DAC website, the facility has free admission and is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second Saturday of every month.
“Our gallery space has currently really come to life with [González’s] prints, and it’s really exciting to see the energy and to welcome the community to see that,” Morgan said.
Along with being a well-known and influential artist in Chile, González is also an activist, working with his community and participating in social movements, Guisela Latorre, professor in the department of women’s gender and sexuality studies, said.
This isn’t the first time the artist is visiting Columbus. Latorre said she invited González 10 years ago when he did a workshop in one of her classes and an exhibition at the DAC. She said she came across the artist while researching Chilean public art.
González’s career in art is rooted in activism, Latorre said. In the early 1970s, she said González founded an organization called Brigada Ramona Parra, a mural painting group that advocated for Chilean President Salvador Allende after he was overthrown by a military dictatorship.
“[González] lends his artistic talent to a lot of different social causes, which include things that are going on in Chile, but things that are going globally, such as, for example, what is happening in Palestine,” Latorre said.
Latorre said many of the themes in González’s work are portrayed through symbols, such as birds to signify freedom and symbols of love to signify social justice.
“He uses these thick outlines that surround his figures and his objects and that makes his work really, almost automatically recognizable,” Latorre said. “They’re beautiful to look at, but they also have a deeper meaning that often comes out when people are having conversations about his work.”
Morgan said González’s career exemplifies the DAC’s mission in many ways, especially through his community engagement. She said she foresees the residency as an opportunity for community members to connect with one another and foster a sense of belonging.
“His work ultimately is about peace and about nonviolence,” Latorre said. “He’s just very incredibly humble considering how accomplished he is as an artist.”
González and Hernandez will also be creating a community mural at Bridge Park in the form of an eight-by-eight-foot cube, Morgan said. In collaboration with Dublin City Schools students, the live mural painting will begin on Sunday at 9 a.m. and run until Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. She said the community will also be invited to contribute to the mural.
Latorre said she is drawn to González’s work because he is committed to the idea of collective artmaking, a concept she teaches in her classes frequently.
“Community engagement is so integral to [González’s] practice,” Morgan said. “There’s an opportunity to really be involved in making something unique and reflective of the moment with these two artists.”
The final component of González’s residency with the DAC will be a panel discussion at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Dublin branch, according to the council’s website. The panel will include Hernández, Fernanda Diaz-Basteris, assistant professor of Latinx new media and ethics studies and Paloma Martinez-Cruz, professor of Latinx and Latin American cultural studies. Local artist Carlos Roa will be in attendance as well.
“The more that I learn about [González’s] lifelong work, the more I understand them and I’m humbled by how this feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Morgan said. “Don’t miss this opportunity to meet and engage and be a part of this community-driven process with such a phenomenal artist.”
Latorre said González and Hernandez love when people engage with their work, and she extended the invite to the larger Columbus community.
“I encourage people to come to the panel discussion,” Latorre said. “This is an incredible opportunity to see the artwork, to meet the artist, to see him in dialogue. It’s really a treat.”
More information about the exhibition and RSVP details for all events can be found on the DAC website.
