Felix Gonzalez-Torres. "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers)

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

"Untitled" (Perfect Lovers)

1991

Wall clocks and paint on wall

Not on view

Initially set to the same time, these identical battery-powered clocks will eventually fall out of sync, or may stop entirely. Conceived shortly after Gonzalez-Torres’s partner was diagnosed with AIDS, this work uses everyday objects to track and measure the inevitable flow of time. When one of the clocks stops or breaks, they can both be reset, thereby resuming perfect synchrony. In 1991, Gonzalez-Torres reflected, “Time is something that scares me. . . or used to. This piece I made with the two clocks was the scariest thing I have ever done. I wanted to face it. I wanted those two clocks right in front of me, ticking.”

Gallery label from

2019

Medium Wall clocks and paint on wall
Dimensions Overall dimensions variable; clocks 14" diameter x 2 3/4" (35.6 cm diameter x 7 cm) each
Credit Gift of the Dannheisser Foundation
Object number 177.1996.a-b
Department Painting and Sculpture

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Felix Gonzalez-Torres

American, born Cuba. 1957–1996 22 works online

Felix Gonzalez-Torres created 20 unique candy works between 1990 and 1993. These generally bright and shiny sculptural accumulations are each composed of a different type of wrapped candy , which have included chocolate, licorice, bubble gum, and lollipops—and each work has a listed ideal weight specified by the artist.

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