Miguel Ángel González: strokes of sensitivity

Lleida—If we buy the prepared calçots, the essence is lost”, I said to the group chat of the gang a few days before our traditional annual calçotada.

The so-called moral dilemma was served. After a heated debate (with a poll included), an overwhelming and decisive majority decided to take the opposite path to my feelings. The blow to my ego was one for the ages. Upon recovering, I democratically accepted the devastating defeat. However, no one dared to boycott my crime of making the sauce in an attempt to preserve, even if only a little, the living tradition.

Customs aside, before the feast we went to stock up on the rest of the necessary groceries for the day. We weren't alone! An application that “scans barcodes, analyzes the composition of foods to know their impact on physical health and rates them according to their nutritional quality” accompanied us.

We went crazy! I couldn't help but wonder what the results would be if it were also possible to scan, analyze, and measure, with such ease, the impact on our mental health of the activities in which we take part.

An inner light

From an Argentinian cradle and a Lleida adoption, the artist Miguel Ángel González professes a deep love for the human body, which for him is “beauty in its purest state, a creation, an extraordinary work of art.” The exhibition Petjades, which opened on April 9th and can be visited until June 30th at the Casino Principal building in Lleida, is a small sample of his artistic career of over 60 years and his “legacy: that of art’s commitment to transforming consciousness.” His sculptures are mirrored in this appreciation and address the link between body and spirit that he manages to capture in metal, imbuing it with breath and emotion. Life, nature, or the human being are the perfumes of his work, of his world.

“Welcome to my temple. I want to share my inner light, my spirit with you. Because you also have the light.” This is how Miguel Ángel González received us during our visit to his studio on April 18th. A visit in which we not only delved into the depths of his creative universe, but which was also an exercise in individual and collective self-esteem, an injection of artistic and human quality that nourished our inner world. Art must disturb. It must be a jolt. Yes! But it must also move. Emote. Stimulate.