Felix Gonzalez-Torres was born in Cuba in 1957. His work is closely linked to his private life: how he left Cuba for the United States, his relationship with his boyfriend Ross and most of all AIDS, which led to his death at the age of 39. Felix Gonzalez-Torres tells his story using commonplace items – candy wrappers or coloured beads - that conceal dramatic topics, such as social and economic disparities, homophobia, sickness, death. Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s works are tender and beautiful; they do not aggress the viewers’ eyes or feelings; they turn ordinary objects into pieces of poetry.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres was born in Cuba in 1957. His work is closely linked to his private life: how he left Cuba for the United States, his relationship with his boyfriend Ross and most of all AIDS, which led to his death at the age of 39. Felix Gonzalez-Torres tells his story using commonplace items – candy wrappers or coloured beads - that conceal dramatic topics, such as social and economic disparities, homophobia, sickness, death. Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s works are tender and beautiful; they do not aggress the viewers’ eyes or feelings; they turn ordinary objects into pieces of poetry.