“Untitled” Candy Portrait (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres

“Untitled” Candy Portrait (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Introduction

Felix Gonzalez Untitled art that depicts a pile of candy (portrait of Ross in L.A.) is an example of the 19 candy portraits that remained untitled by the artist. In the case of the art installation in Ross in Los Angeles, the candies are from varied colors, but one essential aspect is that the sweets indicate the white, red, and blue colors reminiscent to the colors of the U.S. flags. Several discussions have pointed out to the fact that candy art installation symbolizes the life of Felix and that of his boyfriend (Spector, 1996). The candies are always piled up to reflect the weight of an overweight person. However, since people often pick the candies as much as they want, the weight gradually reduces, making it lose its biomass at a faster rate. Based on Doyle (2013), the essay would examine several aspects of the art. These aspects include difficulty in understanding art, intimacy, and objectivity.

Analysis

The experience with the work was mixed and perplexing. Felix’s presentation of the work is relatively difficult to understand based on the fact that it has no definitive mode of coloring and relies on the portrait that only depicts the candies and never anything that could tie it to any interpretation. Such an aspect made the difficulty in understanding the motive behind the artwork relatively mysterious. In that regard, one had to get a deeper understanding of the biography of the artist to understand the reason behind the art adequately. However, even after subjecting the art to critical analysis based on the background of the author, one is still left floating on the emotional aspect of the artwork since it symbolizes those undertakings that one could easily relate to in the society. The fact that it symbolizes the body being ravaged by a virus and one helpless in seeking any intervention evokes feelings that are not only emotionally appealing but also makes an individual relate to the undertakings of such details as if it was our own. Doyle (2013) notes that the magnitude of difficulty of the artwork relates to the social and emotional construct that the artwork imbues on the audience. In that regard, though the objectivity of the artwork is latent, it arouses mixed emotions.

The artwork relates to the concept of objectivity, intimacy, and difficulty in various ways. In objectivity, the work revolves around the representation of a given phenomenon that is relatable to the lives of people in different aspects. The portrayal of the candies in the U.S. flag and the symbolic portrayal of the ravaging attribute of HIV perfectly sums up the fact that HIV infection is a menace that affects people from all walks of life and the victims need a collective effort to feel loved (Cherry, 2007). On the other hand, the work aligns with the concept of intimacy since it highlights the involvement of other people in replenishing the diminishing candies. The presence of the people plays a vital role in helping the artist while the body continues getting depleted by HIV as a result of infection. The difficulty of the work comes to the fact that it does not point out to any aspect as typical in various artworks. Instead, it highlights only gives the audience a platform to speculate what the motive behind it. Just as Doyle (2013) asserts, its difficulty relies on the emotional construct that people share with the given artwork. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the viewer to relate to the biography of the individual artist to interpret the meaning that the artwork could have contained.

In the artwork, the responsibility of the artist is limited. However, the artist must ensure that the artwork contains an emotional attachment that the audience could relate to and provide intimacy between the individuals that the artwork targets. In this regard, Doyle asserts that for the artwork to achieve ease in interpretation, it must relate to the emotional attachment that it would create between the audience and the art. Again, the artwork by Felix, from a personal perspective, was trying to highlight the effects of HIV infection and how it leaves people entirely ravaged (Cherry, 2007). The continuous replenishment of the candies epitomizes the efforts that people make through medical interventions and care-giving to ensure that the victims regain strength and fight the virus. Thus, the artwork was trying to portray the impacts of HIV infections among individuals in society. It calls for sensitization that HIV infections are indiscriminate and affects people from all walks of life. Thus, the audience of this artwork is every individual from all walks of life. Again, the work responds to the myths that surrounded the HIV infections in the 1990s when such diseases remained a taboo. Owing to the discrimination that the people living with HIV experienced, the artwork was a perfect tool for responding to such myths and discriminatory acts towards individuals with HIV.

The difficulty of the work arises from the fact that its meaning and interpretation is tied to the background of the artist for one to relate to it accurately. Again, it elicits sad emotions among the specific audience. The emotions evolve from the ordinary feelings of being sympathetic to the artist based on the understanding of his background and the motive behind the work. Additionally, Felix’s artwork is premised on a given historical context. Being gay, Felix lost his boyfriend to HIV infections (Spector, 1996). He witnessed the boyfriend getting ravaged by the virus, and he struggled taking care of him. The suffering of the boyfriend that was characterized by the fast depletion of body weight is portrayed in the picking of the candies by the viewers (Spector, 1996). Thus, the artwork highlights essential issues to the consumers of the art. First, it sensitizes people regarding the HIV infections and the care needed. It also gives the consumer a different perspective concerning HIV infections and the care required when such diseases arise. Intimacy and the presence of people are vital in dealing with the victims of the infections. Again, the artwork relates to my artistic practice in two ways. The first way is that it points out the need for emotional attachment that makes the work of an art impactful and resonates with the audience. Again, it gives me a glimpse that for artwork to remain active, it must reflect on the ordeals of the people in the society, either overtly and covertly.

Reference

Cherry, D. (2007). Sweet Memories: encountering the candy spills of Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Transnational correspondence, special issue of Arte e Ensaios/Arts and Essays, 96-109.

Doyle, J. (2013). Hold It Against Me: difficulty and emotion in contemporary art. Duke University Press.

Spector, N. (1996). Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Guggenheim Museum.