In celebration of its 15th anniversary in 2010, Artpace in San Antonio, Texas, mounted an ambitious state-wide exhibition of 336 seminal billboards created by Cuban-born artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996). Developed with special permission from the artist's estate, this presentation was the first-ever comprehensive survey of Gonzalez-Torres' billboard works in the US. Situated deliberately in the public's path in four cities (Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio), these artworks gracefully interrupted daily routines with poignant reflections on life, love and humanity. The transcendent quality of Gonzalez-Torres' work was magnified in the Texas landscape, and the project garnered international attention for its unprecedented commemoration of this remarkable body of work. This book covers all the billboard pieces and serves as a mini-retrospective of this critical part of Gonzales-Torres' career.
Image: "Untitled" (1995), Billboard, installed at Interstate 35 & Hackberry, San Antonio, TX.
In little more than a decade, Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) produced a profoundly moving and influential body of work that came to define his generation. As poetic as it was political, as autobiographical as it was universal, it was "deeply reflective of the transience of life, rich with metaphors about intimacy, presence, absence, loss and survival," in the words of Matthew Drutt, contributor to Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Billboards, published by Radius Books and Artpace, San Antonio. This beautifully produced volume documents the Texas art organization's state-wide, comprehensive 2010 retrospective of Gonzalez-Torres' seminal billboard works, originally produced between 1991 and 1995 (one year prior to the artist's death from complications related to AIDS). "Untitled," here installed near Highway 90 & Bartlett, in Houston, TX, was first shown throughout New York City in 1991, following the death of Gonzalez-Torres' longtime partner, Ross Laycock. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 11.5 x 9.5 in. / 194 pgs / 120 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $79 GBP £53.00 ISBN: 9781934435809 PUBLISHER: Radius Books/Artpace, San Antonio AVAILABLE: 8/25/2015 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Radius Books/Artpace, San Antonio. Text by Matthew Drutt.
In celebration of its 15th anniversary in 2010, Artpace in San Antonio, Texas, mounted an ambitious state-wide exhibition of 336 seminal billboards created by Cuban-born artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996). Developed with special permission from the artist's estate, this presentation was the first-ever comprehensive survey of Gonzalez-Torres' billboard works in the US. Situated deliberately in the public's path in four cities (Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio), these artworks gracefully interrupted daily routines with poignant reflections on life, love and humanity. The transcendent quality of Gonzalez-Torres' work was magnified in the Texas landscape, and the project garnered international attention for its unprecedented commemoration of this remarkable body of work. This book covers all the billboard pieces and serves as a mini-retrospective of this critical part of Gonzales-Torres' career.
