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FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES (b. Cuba, lived/worked in U.S., 1957-1996) UNTITLED editioned, signed and...

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FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES (b. Cuba, lived/worked in U.S., 1957-1996) UNTITLED editioned, signed and...
FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES (b. Cuba, lived/worked in U.S., 1957-1996) UNTITLED editioned, signed and dated "25/25 [signature] 1994" in black ink on verso chromogenic color print in Plexiglas box frame 4 x 6 in. (10.2 x 15.2 cm) 1994 this print is number 25 from an edition of 25 (plus 12 AP and 12 PP) from the portfolio PORTRAITS, Printed Matter, New York, 1995 PROVENANCE Private Collection, NEW YORK LITERATURE Dietmar Elger, FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES: CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ, Ostfildern, 1997, p. 130, no. 261 (illustrated in black and white) While working as both a sculptor and a photographer, Felix Gonzalez-Torres infused Minimalism and Conceptualism with socio-political messages, becoming one of the most persuasive artists of the 1990s. During this same period, Gonzalez-Torres avidly collected toy figurines, two of which are featured in the present work. "I started buying rubber and plastic toys from the 50s, 60s, and 70s in 1990," he once explained. "One day, at the flea market, I bought a couple and took them home. Then they became an obsession. Last time I counted I had 1,500.... I teach, and my students always ask, 'How come you never show your work?' And I say, 'I did, all semester, this is also my work - why separate the two?'" (Quoted in Jeffrey Slonim, "All Around Esthetes: Consummate Consumption," ARTFORUM, vol. 33, no. 4, December 1994, p. 7). Indeed, the present work employs the artist's personal collection in the service of one of his most universal themes: couples. Gonzalez-Torres often paired inanimate objects in close proximity, endowing them with a surprising poignancy. Here the artist has nestled two of his plastic figurines beneath bed linens. Dwarfed by the surrounding expanse of white, the tiny cartoon characters evoke both the pleasure and vulnerability of emotional intimacy.
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