Image credit courtesy of the artist.

Ana González Barragán:
Intimacy with a (non) site
September 2024 - March 2026 @InsideOut

InsideOut Reception
Thursday, October 3
5:30-7:30pm, free

Ana González Barragán (b. Mexico City, 1989) is a conceptual artist, sculptor, and researcher focused on the intersection between the extraction of stones and minerals and the nuances of post-industrial capitalism and patriarchy within dominant narratives that commodify the body and natural resources. González Barragán’s practice centers around research, documentation, and socio-political critique of the mining industry, most often translated into sculptural objects made from mine-recovered materials acquired on-site from Sierra de las Navajas, Mexico, and Marble, Colorado. 

For BMoCA’s InsideOut commission, González Barragán created a site-specific installation using cast-off gray Yule marble from the Yule Marble Quarry (Marble, Colorado). Positioned as a metaphor for the act of extraction, Intimacy with a (non) site references male/female anatomy by evocatively threading a steel pipe through drilled holes. The artist’s intimate manipulation of the materials using hand tools further expresses commentary on the often violent and exploitative industrial methods, commodification, and transnational circulation of natural resources. She strategically carves and polishes the inherent, vein-like lines and raw edges of the marble in contrast with spray paint and chainsaw marks—residual evidence of mine activity. And in order to heat-form the rough bends in the steel pipe by hand, she utilizes coal directly sourced from TwentyMile Coal Mine (Oak Creek, Colorado).

BMoCA InsideOut features rotating commissions from local and international artists who push the boundaries of art within the public realm. Bringing the conversation beyond the museum’s walls, the projects aim to generate responsible criticism, foster active public disclosure, and pique the community’s interest in the evolving field of contemporary art. A site for temporary artistic intervention, BMoCA InsideOut is an exhibition platform that offers unexpected creative encounters. The only constant is the temporary nature of each project.