Reina Sofía Exhibition Examines Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Refugee Past

(MENAFN- USA Art News) A new exhibition at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, titled Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Sweet Revenge, highlights the artist's early life as a Cuban child refugee in 1971. Gonzalez-Torres briefly resided in Madrid before relocating to Puerto Rico and then New York.

This marks his first major solo exhibition in the Spanish capital. Previously, his work was featured in a significant show at the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea in Santiago de Compostela in 1995, just prior to his death from AIDS-related complications. The Reina Sofía also hosted a group exhibition, No es sólo lo que ves: Pervirtiendo el Minimalismo, in 2000, and a 2021 exhibition at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona was presented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current exhibition, by focusing on his brief history as a refugee, recontextualizes conventional understandings of Gonzalez-Torres's artistic journey.

The exhibition, spanning seven galleries on the first floor of the Sabatini Building, includes over 50 works by Gonzalez-Torres. Featured pieces include his notable candy spills, text portraits, puzzles, beaded curtains, paper stacks, and photographs, accompanied by his quotes printed on the gallery walls. The presentation avoids a chronological arrangement. Curated by artist Alejandro Cesarco and Nancy Spector, the former Guggenheim artistic director and chief curator who organized Gonzalez-Torres's definitive 1995 retrospective in New York, the show's title and central theme are inspired by the blue candy spill,“'Untitled' (Revenge)” (1991). Gonzalez-Torres created this work after returning to Madrid as an adult, reflecting on the personal significance of the visit:“I returned to Madrid nearly twenty years later, sweet revenge.”

According to a wall text in the exhibition, his experience of being sent to Madrid as a child refugee“was a traumatic experience, one that heavily informed his preoccupations with memory and repetition.” The curators use“Sweet Revenge” as their framework to emphasize the intricate nature of Gonzalez-Torres's art, which often blends aesthetic appeal with critical commentary. In the entrance hall, a parallel text titled“Methodology” outlines the exhibition's guiding principles, instructions, and responsibilities. This text also explains the practical aspects of his replenishable candy piles, paper stacks, and modifiable text portraits, detailing their presentation and expansion.

Source: Hyperallergic

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