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FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES (1957-1996) UNTITLED (LAST LIGHT) 24 ten-watt lightbulbs, plastic light soc...
Currency:USD
Category:Everything Else / Other
Start Price:NA
Estimated At:70,000.00 - 90,000.00 USD
NOT SOLD (BIDDING OVER)
0.00USD+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2003 May 15 @ 19:00UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT
FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES
(1957-1996)
UNTITLED (LAST LIGHT)
24 ten-watt lightbulbs,
plastic light sockets, extension cord and dimmer switch
L: 1321/2 in. (336 cm)
executed in 1993
this work is from an edition of 24
plus six artist's proofs
As the owner is an integral part of this work, it is the artist's intention that a new certificate of authenticity and ownership is issued stating the new owner's name, in addition to the current certificate of authenticity which accompanies this work. The Estate of Felix Gonzalez-Torres will provide this new certificate.
ESTIMATE: $70,000-90,000
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist
Private collection, NEW YORK
EXHIBITED
NEW YORK, Exit Art, ...IT'S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME, November 5, 1994-January 28, 1995
NEW YORK, Betsy Senior Gallery, A.R.T. PRESS: PRINTS AND MULTIPLES, January 12-February 4, 1995
NEW YORK, Feature Inc., THE MODERNS, June 1-July 28, 1995
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporaneo, FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES: A POSSIBLE LANDSCAPE, December 12-March 3, 1996
CINCINNATI, Contemporary Arts Center, MEMENTO MORI, November 29, 1996-January 5,1997
LITERATURE
D. Elger, FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES, CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ, OSTFILDERN-RUIT, 1997, p. 125, no. 246 (illustrated)
Felix Gonzalez-Torres' compelling and emotionally imbued work whispers elements of autobiography and activism, addressing issues such as sexual difference and class identity as the artist's private memories enter public spaces. Often compared to Minimalist sculpture and Conceptual art, Gonzalez-Torres, infuses his work with strategies of seriality and reproducibility. Yet, while such themes are central to these earlier movements, Gonzalez-Torres eschewed Minimalism's neutrality and seeming impenetrability and Conceptualism's implicit intellectual austerity to instill his forms with a renewed poignancy. His art is as masterfully nuanced as it is visually concise.
Gonzalez-Torres, lightstrings, as Untitled (Last Light) demonstrates, are highly interactive and necessitate a multifaceted engagement: intellectual (in the persistent associations with related pieces), emotional (through the connotations of love), and physical (in the manipulation of the strings). He explained, "I don't necessarily know how these pieces are best displayed. I don't have all of the answers-you decide how you want it done. Whatever you want to do, try it. This is not some Minimalist artwork that has to be exactly two inches to the left and six inches down. Play with it, please. Have fun. Give yourself that freedom. Put my creativity into question..." (Gonzalez-Torres quoted in N. Spector, FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES, NEW YORK, 1985, p. 73). As the artist's catalogue raisonné specifies, Gonzalez-Torres' wishes are upheld that the lightstrings are to be displayed according to the owner's desires: "The owner has the right to change the manner of installation at any time, thereby visually changing the work. The owner must replace the bulbs as they burn out. The piece may be exhibited either with all the bulbs off or all the bulbs on" (D. Elger, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Catalogue raisonné, Ostfilden-Ruit, 1997, p. 15). On multiple levels, Gonzalez-Torres' art refuses alienation and isolation. As subtly anthropomorphized objects and enduring sources of illumination and warmth, the lightstrings, like the artist's paper stacks, candy spills and jigsaw puzzles, are thus forcefully optimistic, opening the possibility for endless regeneration and renewal.
Auction Location:
United States
Previewing Details:
Saturday May 3, 2003 10am to 5pm, Sunday May 4, 2003 1pm to 5pm, Monday May 5, 2003 10am to 5pm, Tuesday May 6, 2003 10am to 5pm, Wednesday May 7, 2003 10am to 5pm, Thursday May 8, 2003 10am to 5pm, Friday May 9, 2003 10am to 5pm, Saturday May 10, 2003 10am to 5pm, Sunday May 11, 2003 1pm to 5pm, Monday May 12, 2003 10am to 5pm, Tuesday May 13, 2003 10am to 5pm, Wednesday May 14, 2003 10am to 5pm, Thursday May 15, 2003 10am to 2pm
Additional Fees:
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