Joyabaj

In 1964, Margot Fanjul returned to her native country after a long stay in California, where she had produced some of her first paintings.1 Her work from this period moves from painterly, expressionist renderings of figures to abstract meditations on the symbolism of particular shapes and colors. By 1965, her canvases revealed emerging interest in the aesthetic and formal searches typical of abstraction and concrete art. For her series "Geometric Abstraction" (1966-68), the artist drew inspiration from Mayan "huipiles" (shawls), synthetizing the designs of indigenous textiles within the international movement of geometric abstraction. "Joyabaj" belongs to this period, when the artist explored the aesthetic quality of indigenous designs and the optical effects and visually disruptive potential of contrasting colors. The title of this work reveals Fanjul’s tendency towards word play and double meanings. Joyabaj is a municipality in the Guatemalan region of El Quiché known for its handcrafted works and complex textile patterns. When the word is split in two, the word "joya"—meaning jewel—is isolated. The word’s meaning resonates in the diamond-shaped lines of the painting’s mandala-like geometric structure, and celebrates the richness of indigenous artistic traditions.

1 Margot Fanjul is the adopted married name of the Guatemalan painter, sculptor, poet, dancer and performance artist Margarita Azurdia.

This text was created in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and written by Patricia Ortega-Miranda.