Art Everyday

Image courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA), candies, individually wrapped in multicolored cellophane (endless supply), ideal weight 175 lb, 1991

From The National Portrait Gallery's exhibition, Hide/Seek:

Even as a minimalist, Felix Gonzales-Torres also had a whimsical, humanistic side that showed influences of pop art on his installations. In this "portrait" of his deceased partner, Ross Laycock, Gonzalez-Torres created a spill of candies that approximated Ross's wight (175 lb) when he was healthy. Viewers are invited to take away a candy until the mound gradually disappears; it is then replenished, and the cycle of life and death continues. While Gonzalez-Torres wanted the viewer/participant to partake of the sweetness of his own relationship with Ross, the candy spill also works as an act of communion. More darkly, the steadily diminishing pile of cheerfully wrapped candies shows the dissolution of the gay community as society ignored the AIDS epidemic. In the moment that the candy dissolves in the viewer's mouth, the participant also receives a shock or recognition at his or her complicity in Ross's demise.