Tag Archives: gonzales torres

So sweet it makes my mouth water.

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I started this series as an exercise using a couple of pieces of candy from works by Felix Gonzales-Torres.  They are oil on 6×8″ wood panels.   My friend Zachary urged me to push the idea a little further, so I perused the candy aisle of the grocery store, bought a few models, painted the ones I liked, and ate those I didn’t.

The allure/challenge with these pieces was reflections and transparencies, and the rich colors.  Reflective surfaces are difficult to map out and depend a great deal on subtleties of value.  However, when done correctly, I find them rewarding.

I also enjoyed that I didn’t have to think much about the idea.  I had a pile of candies to choose from, and a pile of painting surfaces ready to go.  But the danger I see in pushing this series much further is falling it a groove of formulaic repetition.

The sweet-hearts was a one-off done on Valentine’s day.

Vanitas (Felix II) : Oil on wood. 6″x8″ 2016
Vanitas (Felix III) : Oil on board. 6″x8″ 2016 (SOLD)
untitled : Oil on board. 6″x8″ 2016 (SOLD)
untitled : Oil on board. 6″x8″ 2016 (SOLD)
untitled : Oil on wood. 6″x8″ 2016
Feb 14 th : Oil on wood. 6″x8″ 2016

 

Bitter Sweet

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As I was poking around on Sunday trying to find something to paint I stumbled onto a drawer filled with cellophane wrapped candies.  They were pieces that had been given to me and that I had picked up from exhibitions of Felix Gonzales Torres, one of my all time favorite artists.

Felix was diagnosed with HIV in the early nineties and both he and his partner died from complications related to the virus.  His artworks are poignant and simple and beautiful. They evoke the temporal nature of life, and the tragic loss associated with being gay in the 80s, and 90s when so many lives were lost due to fear and inaction surrounding HIV.

His candy pieces are simple: a pile of candies weighing as much as one of his friends is placed in a gallery.  Visitors are allowed to take pieces for themselves, resulting in a steady decrease of the original weight until there is nothing left.  It is a powerful metaphor that I contemplated as I worked.  Was my piece the one that tipped the scales?  Did it matter?  Now several years old, the original artwork was certainly gone – all that remains is a memory.

Vanitas (Felix I) : Oil on linen. 8

Vanitas (Felix I) : Oil on linen. 8″x11″ 2015