Félix González-Torres
Félix González-Torres (born November 26, 1957 in Guáimaro , Cuba , † January 9, 1996 in Miami , Florida ) was a Cuban artist .
life and work
Félix González-Torres had his first solo exhibition in 1990 at the Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York , where he showed his works until his death. The gallery is also the administrator of his estate.
Both during his lifetime and posthumously , his works were repeatedly used by well-known museums for solo exhibitions. Reviews of this work were organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, 1995), the Sprengel Museum (Hanover, 1997) and the Serpentine Gallery (London, 2000).
Gonzalez-Torres was known for his calm, minimalist installations and sculptures. He often used materials such as parts of lightbulbs, clocks or packaged sweets. His works are considered to be shaped by his experience with AIDS . Many of its structures tempt the viewer to take a piece of it with him; thus a series of works allowed visitors to pick up candy from a pile on the edge of the showroom. Another series consists of a stack of very thin plastic foils, which visitors can also take here. The exhibitor replaces the removed materials. The most common reading of the works regards the resulting processes (burning out lightbulbs, scattering the stacks of candy) as a metaphor for dying. One of the most striking works is a billboard in New York showing a monochrome photograph of an empty bed.
His first target audience was his significant other, Ross, to whom he dedicated many works, especially after he died of AIDS.
- “When people ask me who my audience is, I honestly say, without hesitation: Ross. That was my audience. The other people just came to my work. "
Felix Gonzalez-Torres' works reflect the differences between public and private portrayals of homoerotic desires. He explored the imagery as well as the sensitivity of the gay scene to deal with topics such as love, loss, absence and AIDS. The 1992 photograph of the empty bed was made after the death of his partner. It is considered a tribute to those who lost friends and loved ones to AIDS.
Exhibitions
- Félix González-Torres, Rudolf Stingel . New Gallery Graz , 1994.
- 1997 Art Museum St.Gallen.
- Museum Fridericianum Kassel .
- Hamburger Bahnhof , Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, 2006
- 2010/2011: Felix Gonzales-Torres. Specific Objects without Specific Forms. Museum of Modern Art (MMK), Frankfurt am Main.
- 2011: Untitled (Placebo). Entrance hall of the Goethe University , Frankfurt am Main, Candy Piece on loan from the Museum of Modern Art , New York City.
- 2016: Felix Gonzalez-Torres , Rockbund Art Museum , Shanghai , People's Republic of China .
literature
- Francesco Bonami et al .: Félix Gonzáles-Torres, Rudolf Stingel , Neue Galerie, Graz 1994.
- on the exhibition at the New York Guggenheim Museum 1995: Felix Ganzález-Torres , Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 1997, ISBN 978-3-7757-1998-8 .
- America , Hatje-Cantz, Ostfildern 2007 ISBN 978-3-7757-2060-1
Web links
- Literature by and about Félix González-Torres in the catalog of the German National Library
- Félix González-Torres on kunstaspekte.de
- The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation , New York
- Biography Guggenheim Museum (English)
- queerculturalcenter.org (English)
- http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/gonzalez-torres_felix.html
Individual evidence
- ↑ About Us . In: The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation . August 30, 2011 ( felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org [accessed June 8, 2018]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | González-Torres, Félix |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Cuban artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 26, 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guáimaro , Cuba |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 9, 1996 |
| Place of death | Miami , Florida |