PATRICIA GÓMEZ Y MARÍA JESÚS GONZÁLEZ
Valencia, Spain, 1978
Received the Fundación Botín Art Grant in 2021

Celda 135. Estratos, 2011
From the series Tiempo Muerto. Former Palma Prison
Polyptych, 4 pieces. Mural fragment on black fabric
Each piece 280 × 95 cm
Unique work
Acquired in 2024

Patricia Gómez and María Jesús González explore in their work the relationships between memory, time, and space through the traces embedded in the walls of architectural structures once inhabited and now condemned to destruction. From disused penitentiary centers to abandoned immigrant detention facilities and empty houses in depopulated Spanish villages, the artists recover, through their characteristic mural fragments, the history and living conditions of those who once inhabited these places.

With these extractions, along with photographs and videos documenting the process, they create a series of archives that capture the essence of these locations — how the rooms were and the life that took place inside before abandonment or demolition. Since beginning their collaborative work in 2002, Patricia and María Jesús have intervened in numerous disappearing structures, materializing the memories of people otherwise consigned to oblivion in deeply personal and complex documentary artworks.

This work addresses the mural fragments taken from the former Palma de Mallorca prison.