FÉLIX GONZÁLEZ-TORRES´S QUEER ART
The poetic, conceptual, minimalist and
controversial work of Félix González-Torres has placed among the best artists
from the last decades. The great number of shows that have been devoted to his output,
including a major exhibition at the Guggenheim are ample proof of this
attention. He was born
in Cuba and grows up in Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba and then escaped to America
where he established himself. Félix González-Torres said in more than one
occasion that his work could not be separated from his life, marked by the fact
of being Cuban, homosexual and HIV positive. He was always aware of the
socio-political implications of his work but he saw that as a natural thing,
his way of thinking was that all art or cultural production is political. His
main themes are sexual politics, racism, and the relationship between the
artist and the viewer. From a queer theory perspective, his best quality is the
rejection of the so called gay art, an art limited to what
some consider as an object of desire for gay men.
_Atkins, R.(1996)
Goodbye Lesbian/Gay History, Hello Queer Sensibility: Meditating on Curatorial
Practice, Art Journal,[online]
Vol.55, n.4. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/777660
In this article
one is offered an overall view on curatorial practice within the frame of
homosexuality in art. It is a rigorous analysis of queer socio-politics and its
relationship with art.
_ Bleys, R.
C.(2000) Images of Ambiente.
Homotextuality and Latin American Art 1810-today. London: Continuum.
In this
book one receives a very interesting view on homosexuality and art in the work
of Latin American artists. Félix González-Torres it is studied in the chapter
called: Queer visions of Latino/a exile, which gives us a general view on Latin
American socio-politics and the need of some to exile and how the production of
art is affected by this border crossing.
_Córdoba, D. et al.
(2005). Teoría Queer, políticas bolleras,
maricas, trans, mestizas. Barcelona: Egales.
A review on
Queer Theory from a series of Spanish writers/theorists. In the different
chapters one is confronted with a Spanish way of reading queer theory such as
queer theorist Beatriz Preciado and her radical lesbianism. Relevant as Félix
González-Torres was of Cuban origin.
_Creative Time(2000), Creative Times
presents Felix Gonzalez-Torres. New York[online] Available from: http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/2000/Torres/torres/felix_intro.html
Series of
key essays from diverse journals put together in conjunction with a show of
Félix González-Torres at the Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York. First document
is an interview with the artist in which he talks about art, theoretical
influences and politics. The next essays are about his work, in relation to
death and the sense of loss (related to HIV) and relating to gender-politics
and with an extensive reading about influences received in his practice work.
_Fuentes, E.
(2005-06).Félix González-Torres in Puerto Rico. Art Nexus. [online] vol.4. Available from: http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/
The author discusses the
connections between Felix Gonzalez-Torres's formative period in Puerto Rico,
from 1978 to 1985, and his work. It is an important reading for
establishing the artistic and cultural background of his work and the impact
that memory, migratory experience and family will have in his future work. In
this writing one could also see the development of what in the future will be
his most known techniques.
_Ho, C. (2001)
Within and beyond: Félix González-Torres´s “Crowd”, in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art. [online] Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3246486
Essay from
Christopher Ho in which the work of Félix González-Torres is approach from a
performance point of view. Investigates how Torres´s work establishes a
dialogue with the viewer and the importance of that dialogue as the core of the
work itself. Important essay as it shows the intricate relationship between work and
spectator.
_MoMA
online. Félix González-Torres
[online]. Available from:
A collection
of Félix González-Torres work. The museum website provides the viewer with
images and information about Torres´s pieces of art exhibited at the museum and
most importantly enables access to
publication excerpts from various art critics dedicated to each specific piece.
_Spector, N.
González-Torres, F. (2006) Félix González-Torres. New York: Guggenheim Museum.
Book
originally printed as catalogue exhibition for Félix González-Torres first big
solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and reprinted in 2006 as
the artist was chosen to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. It
is an interesting book as the artist was involved in its production and it
represents his idea that art should be pleasure.
_Wagner, F.
et al. (2006) The Eight Square.
Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz Verlag
Powerful
collection of essays from a diverse range of theorists such as Judith Butler or
Eva Meyer. The book is the catalogue for the exhibition Das achte feld,The eight square, at the Museum Ludwig in Köln in
2006,about gender, life and desire in the arts since the 60´s. The essays and
the works exhibited in the exhibition helps the reader to contextualize
Torres´s work.
_Waters,
J. and Hainley, B. (2003) Art-A Sex Book.
London: Thames and Hudson
Series
of questionnaires to 14th artists about sex, eroticism, and its
relationship with art. The authors provide the readers with a selection of
works, which creates a dialogue about attitudes towards sex and the body in
today´s art world. The work of Félix González-Torres in presented here as an
erotic stimulus for the mind.
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