Color has always carried a certain mystique. From its role in ancient rituals to its commodification in modern advertising, color has the power to move, disrupt, and transform. For artist Pablo González-Trejo, color is more than just a visual tool—it’s a portal into deeper themes of entropy, transformation, and the sacred. Inspired by thinkers like Michael Taussig, whose What Color Is the Sacred? explores the unruly nature of color, and Michel Pastoureau, who investigates its historical and social dimensions, González-Trejo’s work invites viewers into a visceral, sensory experience. His art doesn’t just depict color; it unleashes it, allowing it to take on a life of its own, echoing the chaotic yet generative energy of entropy.

In this blog, we’ll explore how González-Trejo’s paintings reflect the transformative power of color and examine how his work aligns with broader cultural and historical explorations of color, including those by Taussig, Pastoureau, and others.

Color as Energy: Entropy in Art

At the heart of González-Trejo’s artistic practice lies the concept of entropy in art and all over—a force that drives systems toward disorder, breaking them down to their most essential elements. In his paintings, this idea takes form as dynamic, ever-evolving compositions where colors seem to collide, bleed, and transform across the canvas. His work captures a sense of motion, as though the very pigments themselves are alive, refusing to settle into fixed patterns or boundaries.

This reflects a central idea in Michael Taussig’s What Color Is the Sacred?—that color, like entropy in art, resists control. Taussig describes color as “magical” and “unruly,” a force that cannot be fully rationalized. In González-Trejo’s art, this unruliness becomes a metaphor for life itself: unpredictable, chaotic, and endlessly transformative.

For instance, his use of bold, contrasting hues creates visual tension, drawing the viewer into the painting’s energy. This tension mirrors the natural entropy of the universe, where order is constantly unraveling into chaos. Yet, within this chaos lies the potential for creation—a theme González-Trejo returns to again and again. His paintings remind us that disorder is not something to fear but to embrace, as it is the source of all transformation.

A dynamic abstract painting by Pablo González-Trejo exploring entropy in art through bold colors.

The Sacred Power of Color

Historically, color has often been tied to the sacred. In ancient cultures, vibrant pigments were used in rituals and religious ceremonies, imbued with spiritual significance. This connection between color and the divine is a theme that both Taussig and Michel Pastoureau explore in their writings, and it resonates deeply in González-Trejo’s work.

Pastoureau, in books like Blue: The History of a Color, traces the shifting cultural meanings of color through history, revealing how certain hues were associated with power, purity, or the divine. For example, blue was once a sacred color in medieval Europe, linked to the Virgin Mary and the heavens, before becoming a symbol of modernity and trust in the 20th century. Similarly, red, with its ties to blood and fire, has long evoked vitality, danger, and passion.

González-Trejo taps into this deep reservoir of cultural and emotional meaning, using color to evoke a sense of the sacred that feels both ancient and contemporary. In his paintings, vibrant reds might suggest life’s raw, primal energy, while ethereal blues evoke the infinite and transcendent. Yet, he doesn’t confine himself to traditional symbolism; instead, he allows color to speak for itself, letting it take on new, fluid meanings.

This aligns with Taussig’s idea that color operates in the realm of the ineffable, where it resists being pinned down or commodified. For González-Trejo, color becomes a way to connect with something larger than ourselves—a reminder of the sacred in the everyday.

Color as Resistance and Reclamation

In addition to its sacred dimensions, color has also been a site of resistance and reclamation. Throughout history, marginalized communities have used color to assert their identities and challenge dominant cultural norms. Taussig, for example, discusses how indigenous peoples in South America used vibrant colors in their rituals and art as a way to resist colonial control.

Michel Pastoureau, too, highlights how color has often been policed by those in power. In medieval Europe, sumptuary laws dictated who could wear certain colors, reflecting and reinforcing social hierarchies. The Protestant Reformation further suppressed the use of bright colors in church art, favoring muted tones that symbolized austerity and discipline.

González-Trejo’s art can be seen as a continuation of this legacy of resistance. His bold, unapologetic use of color challenges the homogenized, commodified aesthetics of modernity. In an era where color is often reduced to a branding tool—think the “trustworthy” blues of corporate logos or the “passionate” reds of marketing campaigns—González-Trejo reclaims color as something raw, unpredictable, and deeply human.

By doing so, he not only honors the traditions of those who have used color as a form of defiance but also offers a new way forward—one that embraces color’s capacity to disrupt, transform, and heal.

The Liminality of Color: A Space of Transformation

One of the most striking aspects of González-Trejo’s work is how it captures the liminal nature of color—the way it exists in a space between boundaries, constantly shifting and evolving. This idea is central to Taussig’s understanding of color as a phenomenon that defies categorization. Unlike language, which relies on discrete units of meaning, color exists on a spectrum, blending seamlessly from one hue to another.

In González-Trejo’s paintings, this liminality becomes a visual metaphor for transformation. Colors bleed into each other, creating new shades and textures that feel alive and dynamic. This interplay mirrors the artist’s exploration of identity, nature, and artistic practice as processes that are never fixed but always in flux.

For example, in works where González-Trejo combines earthy tones with bursts of neon, the viewer is invited to consider the relationship between the natural and the synthetic, the ancient and the modern. These contrasts create a sense of tension and possibility, encouraging us to embrace the uncertainties and contradictions of life.

A dynamic abstract painting by Pablo González-Trejo exploring entropy in art through bold colors.

The Emotional Power of Color

Beyond its cultural and symbolic meanings, color has a profound emotional impact—a fact that both Pastoureau and Taussig acknowledge in their work. For Taussig, color is “felt” as much as it is seen, engaging the body and the senses in ways that words cannot. Similarly, Pastoureau describes how color can evoke visceral reactions, from joy and wonder to fear and unease.

González-Trejo harnesses this emotional power of color in his paintings, creating works that are as much about feeling as they are about seeing. His use of bold, contrasting hues creates a sense of immediacy, drawing the viewer into the painting’s energy. At the same time, his subtle shifts in tone and texture invite quiet reflection, offering layers of meaning that unfold with time.

For example, a fiery red streak cutting across a calm blue expanse might evoke tension or passion, while soft, overlapping washes of green and yellow can suggest renewal or harmony. These emotional resonances are not prescriptive but deeply personal, encouraging viewers to engage with the work on their own terms. In this way, González-Trejo’s paintings act as mirrors, reflecting the viewer’s own inner states and experiences.

This approach aligns with Kandinsky’s assertion in Concerning the Spiritual in Art that color has a direct effect on the soul. Like Kandinsky, González-Trejo views color as a language of its own—one that speaks to the emotions and the subconscious, bypassing the constraints of logic and reason.

Color as a Portal to the Sacred and the Self

In González-Trejo’s work, color functions as a portal—both to the sacred and to the self. It invites viewers to step outside the rational, orderly world and into a space where intuition, emotion, and transformation reign. This echoes Michael Taussig’s observation that color often operates in the realm of the mystical, evoking wonder and awe.

At the same time, González-Trejo’s paintings encourage introspection. By creating spaces where colors blend, clash, and evolve, he mirrors the complexity of the human experience. His art reminds us that we, like color, are constantly in flux, shaped by forces both external and internal.

This interplay between the universal and the personal is perhaps what makes González-Trejo’s work so compelling. It speaks to the shared human experience of chaos and transformation while also inviting deeply individual interpretations.

The Art of Unruliness

Pablo González-Trejo’s paintings are a testament to the unruly, transformative power of color. Drawing on themes of entropy in art, liminality, and the sacred, his work challenges viewers to embrace the chaos inherent in life and to find beauty in its unpredictability.

By reclaiming color as a magical, emotional, and deeply human force, González-Trejo’s art offers a powerful antidote to the commodified aesthetics of modernity. His paintings are not just visual experiences but immersive journeys—into the sacred, the self, and the ever-changing dance of light and pigment.

As Michel Pastoureau writes, “Color is a language, but one that we do not speak—it speaks to us.” In González-Trejo’s art, this language is alive and vibrant, resonating with the energy of creation and transformation.

If you’re ready to explore the mystical, visceral power of color, dive into Pablo González-Trejo’s world—a place where entropy in art becomes beauty, and color is both chaos and creation.