fbpx
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
"Untitled" (Golden), 1995

Artwork Info

Artwork title
"Untitled" (Golden)
Artist name
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Date created
1995
Classification
installation
Medium
strands of beads and hanging device
Dimensions
dimensions vary with installation
Date acquired
2008
Credit
Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, through prior gifts of J. D. Zellerbach, Gardner Dailey, and an anonymous donor; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, through prior gift of Solomon R. Guggenheim; and the Art Institute of Chicago, through prior gift of Adeline Yates; partial gift of Andrea Rosen in honor of Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Copyright
© The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/2008.109
Artwork status
On view on floor 5 as part of Afterimages: Echoes of the 1960s in the Fisher and SFMOMA Collections

Audio Stories

Using beads to create touchable, interactive art

Show TranscriptHide Transcript

transcripts

NARRATOR:

Here are curators Alison Gass, Apsara DiQuinzio, and Janet Bishop in conversation. Take time to pass through the beads as you listen.

 

ASPARA DIQUINZIO:

There’s always that moment of doubt when you approach it. Can I walk through this? Can I touch it? And that’s, I think, an integral part of the piece.

 

ALISON GASS:

So much of Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s work really is about the body, but in a very unexpected way. This doesn’t look figurative, it doesn’t represent the body, but as you walk through it, it touches every part of your body. Usually we engage our eyes or maybe our ears in the museum, but here the work is really encompassing you and touching you in a totally different way, it’s really unexpected.

 

NARRATOR:

This gold beaded curtain by Cuban artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres was conceived of before his death in 1996, and realized afterwards. Gonzalez-Torres was known for his deceptively simple works involving paper, hard candies, and other common materials that the visitor could touch, take, or even eat.

 

BISHOP:

It’s meant to be installed either going all the way across a gallery or all the way across a doorway, so that the viewers go right through the beads, setting this tremendous sort of ripple into motion. And it’s extraordinarily fluid, and almost liquid, in a sense, where you walk through it and then the—the beads sort of settle back into place over time. You know, almost like throwing a stone into a lake, creating a ripple effect and then having it settle again.

Read MoreCollapse

Other Works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Please note that artwork locations are subject to change, and not all works are on view at all times. If you are planning a visit to SFMOMA to see a specific work of art, we suggest you contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to confirm it will be on view.

Only a portion of SFMOMA's collection is currently online, and the information presented here is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify collection holdings and artwork information. If you are interested in receiving a high resolution image of an artwork for educational, scholarly, or publication purposes, please contact us at copyright@sfmoma.org.

This resource is for educational use and its contents may not be reproduced without permission. Please review our Terms of Use for more information.