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A painting in words on the walls.

The painting runs along the walls of the third-floor corridor just below the ceiling. The text is blue in italics and reads, in part, Frank Johnson 1965 School Bus 1970 Black Umbrellas 1636 eyjafjallajal.

Gallery Text

Noted conceptual artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres conceived of his word portraits as a way to bridge personal and communal experience. Composed of a series of seemingly unrelated texts referencing specific events and dates, Gonzalez-Torres’s word portraits record occurrences that are both highly personal to the portrait’s owner (whether an individual or institution) and historic in nature, underscoring the importance of shared experience in the shaping of identity. Here, placed within the context of an installation of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern art, “Untitled” (Portrait of Michael Jenkins) calls particular attention to the ways in which events of the past shape our understanding of the present.Part of the responsibility of owning the portrait includes adding (and subtracting) events. In Winter 2014, a group of nine Harvard undergraduates participated in intensive discussions about Gonzalez-Torres’s work and the conceptual framework informing this portrait. Each student proposed two texts with dates drawn from formative personal experiences, both public and private, that were then shared with the group. Eight of these events were added to Gonzalez-Torres’s original words.The text evokes static historical friezes that reach back to the Classical past, yet its variability reflects the mutability of history and its interpretation by individuals across time and place.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2010.473
People
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, American (Guaimaro, Cuba 1957 - 1996 Miami, FL)
Title
"Untitled" (Portrait of Michael Jenkins)
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1991
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, New York, New York City
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/336313

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3410, South Arcade
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
paint on wall
Dimensions
dimensions vary with installation
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: Unsigned (signed certificate)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Felix Gonzalez-Torres created 1991; gift from Felix Gonzalez-Torres to Michael Jenkins, 1991; Collection of Michael Jenkins (1991-2006), sold; [through Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York], to; Private Collection (2006-2010), sold; [through Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York], to; Harvard Art Museums, 2010.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Cowles, by exchange
Copyright
© The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation
Accession Year
2010
Object Number
2010.473
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Ilse Kuijken, Gonzalez-Torres: beelden van angst en isolatie, De Standaard (1991), p. 7
  • Cate McQuaid, Contemporary art in the foreground at Harvard Art Museums, The Boston Globe (Boston, MA, November 1, 2014)

Exhibition History

  • Felix Gonzalez-Torres / Michael Jenkins, Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, 01/01/1991 - 01/01/1991
  • 32Q: 3410 South Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
  • Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 05/05/2016 - 06/18/2016

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu