Marisa González (b. 1943, Bilbao, Spain; lives and works in Madrid)

Estación Fax / Fax Station (1993)

The major fax installation, Estación Fax / Fax Station (1993) was first exhibited at the Circle of Fine Arts in Madrid. A fax machine was suspended from the ceiling, while the artist’s fax art correspondences with media artists, colleagues and institutions around the world descended in a ribbon of transmission and piled up on the floor. The installation at OFFSCREEN includes these vintage fax pieces descending from above and arranged in a sphere.

A pioneer in the use of communication technologies in art, González’s practice spans photography, video, fax art, electrography, net art, and painting, extending into research on industrial archaeology, postcolonial labour, and bio art.

Marisa studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid, before moving to Chicago in 1971 to join the Generative Systems programme at the School of the Art Institute led by Sonia Sheridan. There she gained early access to emerging technologies such as color photocopiers, Thermofax, and later fax and digital imaging tools, shaping a practice rooted in serialization, industrial production, and a Bauhaus-inspired belief in technology as a lever for social change, alongside a lasting commitment to feminism and human rights.

She has held more than 60 solo exhibitions and participated in over 150 group exhibitions internationally. Selected solo exhibitions include the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2025); the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. (1975, 1976); and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1972). Selected group exhibitions include International Fax Exhibition at The Drawing Center, New York (2009); the Sovereign European Art Prize at Somerset House, London (2008); and Performance de Binarización at documenta, Kassel (1992), as well as the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale (2012). Her works are held in major collections including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; MACBA, Barcelona; Sammlung Verbund, Vienna; and the Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, New York, among others.

Isabel Hurley Gallery opened in November 2007 with the aim of promoting contemporary art by disseminating the work of emerging, midcareer and established artists and promoting collecting. On the other hand, the maintenance of an international project and the vocation to act as a platform for debate on new representation strategies as well as on the various contemporary manifestations, defending a plural program that accommodates all formats and trends in a context multicultural.

The gallery is very committed to raising awareness in determining values for coexistence in peace. Values that also affect the most delicate issues, at risk of suffering due to social, political or religious intolerance. Convinced in the effectiveness of art as a unique tool for transmitting knowledge and for learning, the gallery assumes the responsibility that corresponds it in this wonderful mission.