Felix Gonzalez-Torres
DECEMBER 16, 2022 THROUGH APRIL 23, 2023
As one of Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ (1957 – 1996) powerful candy-spill works, “Untitled” (L.A.) finds beauty in the everyday by transforming a bounty of wrapped candies into a dazzling arrangement of color, form, and texture.
By removing a piece of candy, the physical form of the sculpture is altered, ‘activating’ the work in a sensory and personal way. The intimate nature and fluctuating structure of Gonzalez-Torres’ candy works are often interpreted as being related to tragedy in the artist’s private life. “Untitled” (L.A.) was created in 1991, the same year that Gonzalez-Torres’s beloved partner Ross Laycock lost his life due to an AIDS-related illness. The gradual depletion and replenishment of Gonzalez-Torres’s candy-spills seems metaphoric, potentially representing the deterioration of a human body ravaged by illness. At the same time, it can be seen as a type of immortality generated through ritual remembrance and continual recreation. However, Gonzalez-Torres avoided assigning explicit interpretations to his candy works, preferring them to remain available for us to experience in a personal way.