FÉLIX GONZÁLEZ-TORRES, UNTITLED (BILLBOARD)
“Between February 20 and March 18, Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s “Untitled” (1991) peppered the New York skyline, on six billboards throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. With locations ranging from 10th Avenue near the Javits Center to the far corners of Brighton Beach, the work reached diverse populations and altered the associated media landscapes. The provocative yet ambiguous image on each—an enlarged black-and-white photograph of the artist’s recently shared double bed—stood out amid the text-heavy advertising signage that dominates the city. Devoid of the text, logos, or captions typically associated with billboards, this work summoned a second look or even a momentary pause, the introspective quality of the image bringing a perceptible stillness to the surrounding bustle of the city.” - Moma
“González-Torres’ billboard artworks remained untitled like his other works. 1991 marked the same year González-Torres lost Ross Laycock, his lover of 8 years, to an AIDS-related disease. González-Torres himself passed away from the same cause in 1996.
The black and white picture was an homage to the partner of González-Torres, known as Ross, who passed away from AIDS complications in 1991.
The elegies, spread all over New York, engaged a ghostly realm between art and advertising, noiselessly present in a public place usually reserved for commercialized messages.
No clarification accompanied the monochrome picture of an unmade double bed, as if it was an ad. The dents in the pillows and the rumpled sheets declared both the absence and presence of bodies." - Public Delivery