#Felix Gonzalez Torres

[chandlermead]

Forbidden Colors, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, 1988, acrylic on panel, 20 x 68 inches, four parts: 20 x 16 inches each

[10000thb]

[zegalba]

Felix Gonzalez-Torres: "Untitled" (Key West), 1992

[shihlun]

Félix Gonzalez-Torres

- Forbidden Colors

1988

[milksockets]

'untitled (go-go dancing platform)' by felix gonzalez-torres, 1991 in neohoodoo: art for a forgotten faith - franklin sirmans (2008)

[highly-important]

Little Art things I'm obsessed with pt 1

Portraits of absent figures:

David Hockney - A Bigger Splash, 1967

Hockney originally visited California in 1963 and was won over by the sunlight and laid-back lifestyle, especially the luxury and ubiquity of the swimming pool. He described it as his "promised land" The splash is about freezing a moment in time, but it is also empty of human presence but implying a human. The male figure is present in some of David's other works from this time period, especially his muse and then-partner Peter Schlesinger. These paintings are about a hedonistic gay lifestyle, and the swimmers, the divers, are often the subject of voyeurism and desire. But in this painting, we just missed the diver, which makes the object of desire more private and personal. Who was the painter looking at, lusting after, etc. I like the contrast of the incredibly sharp and graphic suburban neighborhood, and the chaotic, organic splash. So again, if the divers represent this homosexual desire, we have this contrast of an orderly heterosexual world, and the queerness that joyfully disrupts it.

And then of course, with the absent figure, there is this massive sense of loss and loneliness. And so much of loneliness is about concealment, hiding in shame. This is a private space, but its also an exposed space, enhancing the loneliness. The figure is isolated, alone, invisible. Its a sadness that contrasts with the setting, the activity, and saturated lighting.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres - Untitled (billboard of an empty bed), 1991

These billboards were exhibited in the streets of Manhattan during the AIDS crisis. This piece was created the same year Felix Gonzalez-Torres's boyfriend Ross died. This portrait is a celebration of love and a memorization of loss and the emotions between intimacy and publicity. In the artist's own words:

“What I’m trying to say is that we cannot give the powers that be what they want, what they are expecting from us. Some homophobic senator is going to have a very hard time trying to explain to his constituency that my work is homoerotic or pornographic, but if I were to do a performance with HIV blood — that’s what he wants, that’s what the rags expect because they can sensationalize that, and that’s what’s disappointing. Some of the work I make is more effective because it’s more dangerous. We both make work that looks like something else but it’s not that. We’re infiltrating that look.“

The work intentionally uses the matching, identical depressions to imply a same-sex couple. The image itself is extremely intimate, but its being displayed in public spaces.

Felix Gonzales-Torres became known for his absent bodies.

And then, a little different, this painting by Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans (1837) commissioned by Frederick and and Coralie Frey, depicts the three Frey children, with the faint shadow of a figure. There was a legend that there was a fourth figure in this painting. In 2005 a private collector, Jeremy K Simien, purchased the painting and it underwent conservation.

The painting revealed Bélizaire, a fifteen year-old enslaved domestic owned by the children's father. The picture captures the complex relationship between the boy and the children, the family that was keeping him captive. For one thing, the way he is set back from the others. There is this sort of intimacy between them along side the psychological trauma of forced bondage.

Here is a great Tiktok about the painting, to quote "What I'm struck by is what a sensitive portrait this is of this young man who was living in an inhumane society where he, despite being a human being, was bought and sold."

A few years after this painting was created, the three Frey children died, and Bélizaire was the only one who survived into adulthood.

The painting stayed in the Frey family. At some point, likely in the late 19th or 20th century, Bélizaire was intentionally painted over. In 1972, the great-granddaughter of Coralie Frey donated the painting to a Louisiana museum, informing them that a figure was painted over. During the course of the painting's life at the museum, no effort was put into restoring the figure.

Jeremy Simien's, who bought and restored this painting, said on his instagram "Bélizaire, they know your name now. Tell the ancestors to let me sleep for a minute."

And shout out to the picture that make me want to write this, Hyde Park Flowers, London by Tumblr user @kimironside I won't re-post it so check out the link.

[the-goya-jerker]

portrait of ross in la?

Oh, I do not feel comfortable rating this one or searching for any eroticism in it.

This is a piece of art inspired by the death of Ross Laycock, the lover of artist Felix Gonzalez Torres, during the AIDS crisis.

Ideally this piece is 175lbs of candy (corresponding to an average body weight of an adult man). Throughout the day, pieces are taken and taken. Like Ross, it wastes away, and viewers are left with the anticipation of loss.

This piece genuinely makes me feel like my heart has been ripped from my chest. I want to wail with grief when I think about it too long.

Instead of a review, I humbly offer up, for your elucidation and viewing pleasure, relevant works.

Check out the others works of Felix Gonzalez Torres, they're very moving.

Electric Fan (Feel It Motherfuckers): Only Unclaimed Item from the Stephen Earabino Estate by John S. Boskovich, a thematically similar piece of art. It also brings me to tears when I see it.

Let the Record Show by Sarah Schulman, which is based on...

The ACT UP Oral History Project, a project that seeks to preserve the history of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power and their activism through the AIDS Crisis.

United in Anger a film by Jim Hubbard, a documentary on ACT UP

If plays or films are more your style, I recommend Angels in America by Tony Kushner. My favorite version is the 2003 TV series from HBO. It stars Justin Kirk, and it is genuinely uplifting and gut wrenching all at once.

If anyone else has pieces of art they suggest, please, feel free to reblog with them! I think art is one of the best ways sometimes to engage with historical atrocities like this. Whether that art is fictionalized or factual, it connects us like nothing else.

Let yourself learn about this and let yourself feel things about this.

[alexlipscomb]

queer art book, 2023, digital

[woundgallery]

C.D Wright

and

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Ross and Harry), C-print jigsaw puzzle in plastic bag;

[glitchphotography]

"Felix and Ana" (Deluxe Paint IV / 2023)

// An addendum to "Art Week," this booth is a tribute to two Cuban-American conceptual artists whose lives were tragically cut short: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Ana Mendieta. Their works are profound meditations on loss, corporality, and power; they remain relevant to this day. Works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres: “Untitled” (Perfect Lovers), 1987–90; “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991; and "Forbidden Colors," 1988.

Works by Ana Mendieta: Silueta Series, 1974; Body Tracks (Rastros Corporales), 1982 //

[gregdotorg]

idk why this snapshot with a feliz navidad note on the back from felix gonzalez-torres to moma curator anne umland is labeled an "exhibition copy." i hope it means umland kept the original, though.

image: photo of a section of a light string as installed at the national portrait gallery rn

[hydeordie]

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Untitled (Last Light) 1993

[agnel]

“Untitled” (Perfect Lovers)

Félix González-Torres (1987-1990)

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

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Félix González-Torres and Ross Laycock

Gordon Kurtti

[endlessandrea]

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled" (Key West), 1992

Photographer: Lance Brewer. Image courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.

[conformi]

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled" (Florence), 1992 VS Luigi Ghirri, studio Morandi a Bologna, 1989-1990

[preordainedplace]

felix gonzalez-torres’ billboard series (1991)