{"data":{"id":159824,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/159824","is_boosted":true,"title":"\"Untitled\"","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhCAAFAPUAAHFgSHVkTHBjUHZpV3hpUH5sU35vWH9xXIV1Xoh0WYp4XoR2Y4J3ZId4YoV4ZYp5ZIl6ZY19ZpSDb4uCco+GdJOJdpaLd52SgZ+VhJyUhqGWh6GXh6CYh6KZiKOZiaOaiaGajKOdj6aej6igj6qkla6onbCrogAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAIAAUAAAYlwIcEUUgoAgAHJNIgGA4LwYBBqVgumMkkRBp9OpwMyFQSeTaaIAA7","width":5616,"height":3744,"alt_text":"Gray letters and numbers spell out words and dates in English that wrap along the top edge of a gallery wall, a corner of which reads, \"Rosa 1977 Great Society 1964 Blue Flowers 1984 Silver Ocean 1990 Ross 1983.\""},"main_reference_number":"2002.80","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1989,"date_end":1989,"date_display":"1989","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Felix Gonzalez-Torres\nAmerican, born Cuba, 1957-1996","place_of_origin":"United States","description":"<p>The self-portrait <em>\u201cUntitled\u201d<\/em> is composed of words and dates that are installed as a friezelike text near the ceiling of this gallery. This uncommon and deceptively simple approach exemplifies the quiet, conceptual nature of Felix Gonzalez-Torres\u2019s work. <em>\u201cUntitled\u201d<\/em> interweaves personal milestones with communal events of our historical era. The artist did not limit the inscriptions to events that occurred between his birth and death. In fact, as the co-owner of the work, the Art Institute must add and subtract events, thereby granting the installation\u2014and the artist himself\u2014a form of renewable life. This piece reminds us that all human identity is mutable and open-ended.<\/p>\n","short_description":"A self-portrait in the form of words and dates, \u201cUntitled\u201d was first realized in 1989. The work expanded over subsequent installations and, by the artist's wishes, can continue to evolve even after his death in 1996. Joining historical events and personal milestones in text placed close to the ceiling, the work is reminiscent of traditional friezes carved on the faces of public architecture.","dimensions":"Dimensions vary with installation","dimensions_detail":[],"medium_display":"Enamel paint on wall","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"The Art Institute of Chicago, bequest of Carolyn Spiegel; Watson F. Blair Prize, Muriel Kallis Newman, Sara Szold and Modern and Contemporary Discretionary funds; Samuel and Sarah Deson and Oscar L. Gerber Memorial endowments; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund Purchase: gift of Jean and James E. Douglas Jr., Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein, Collectors Forum, Doris and Don Fisher, Niko and Steve Mayer, Elaine McKeon, and Danielle and Brooks Walker Jr.","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"F\u00e9lix Gonz\u00e1lez-Torres, Donald Moffett, Scott Watson, Strange Ways: Here We Come: Felix Gonzalez Torres and Donald Moffett, exh. cat. (Vancouver: Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia, 1990), 30.\n\nBernard Brunon, Autoportraits contemporains: here\u2019s looking at me, exh. cat. (Lyon: ELAC, 1993), 5, 69 (color ill.), 136.\n\nAmanda Cruz, Russell Ferguson, ed., Susanne Ghez, Ann Goldstein, bell hooks, Joseph Kosuth, Charles Merewether, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art, 1994), 33. \n\nNancy Spector, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, exh. cat. (New York: Harry N. Abrams and Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1995), 44, 68. \n\nDietmar Elger, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, exh. cat. (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz, 1997), [Bd. 1] 35, 50, 52, 69 (ill.); [Bd. 2] 46 (color ill.), 165. \n \nGerald Matt, Cuba: Los mapas del deseo = Landkarten der Sehnsucht = maps of desire. (Wien: Kunsthalle Wien, 1999), 148, 149.\n\nDavid Frankel and Madeleine Grynsztejn, Carnegie International 1999\/2000, exh. cat. (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, 1999), 111.\n\nLisa G. Corrin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, exh. cat. (London: Serpentine Gallery, 2000), 10, 24 (color ill.), 40 (color ill.), 41 (color ill.), 58 (color ill.), 82.\n\nIvo Mesquita and Adriano Pedrosa, F[r]icciones: Versiones del sur, exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof\u00eda, 2000), 178-179 (color ill.).\n\nJames Rondeau, \u201cUntitled,\u201d Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 29, 2 (2002), 86-87 (color ill.).\n\nMartin Clark, Caroline Collier, and Catsou Roberts, This Storm Is What We Call Progress: Haluk Akak\u00e7e, Martin Boyce, Jyll Bradley, Matthew Buckingham, Chen Chieh-Jen, Julie Mehretu, Lee Mingwei, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Nobuko Tsuchiya, JMW Turner, exh. cat. (Bristol: Arnolfini, 2005), 18, 38-39 (color ill.), 40 (color ill.), 59 (color ill.), 64-65 (color ill.), 74-75 (color ill.), 84-85 (color ill.), 115.\n\nJane Alison, ed., Colour after Klein: Rethinking Colour in Modern And Contemporary Art\n(London: Barbican Art Gallery, 2005), 94-95 (color ill.).\n\nHeike Foll, Petra Reichensperger, Gregor Stemmrich, Frank Wagner, Susanne Wei\u00df, and Michael Wetzel, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, exh. cat, (Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Bildende Kunst and Hamburger Bahnhof, 2006), 41, 57, 72-73 (color ill.), 210. \n\nSonia Becce, Alan Pauls, F\u00e9lix Gonz\u00e1lez-Torres: Somewhere\/Nowhere = Alg\u00fan lugar\/Ning\u00fan lugar, exh. cat. (Buenos Aires: MALBA, Fundaci\u00f3n Costantini, 2008), 36 (color ill.), 46-47 (color ill.), 54 (color ill.), 78, 93.\n\nJos\u00e9 Luis Barrios, Sonia Becce, Guillermo Santamarina,Graciela de la Torre, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Somewhere, Nowhere = Alg\u00fan lugar, Ning\u00fan lugar, exh. cat. (M\u00e9xico City: Museo Universitario Arte Contempor\u00e1neo, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, 2010), 44-45 (color ill.), 60-61 (color ill.), 66 (color ill.), 90.\n\nBill Arning, Justin Bond, David Deitcher, Glenn Fuhrman, Jim Hodges, and Joel Wachs, Floating a Boulder: Works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres & Jim Hodges, exh. cat. (New York: The FLAG Art Foundation, 2010), 23, 78-79 (color, ill.), 82-83 (color ill.), 88-89 (color ill.), 92-93 (color ill.), 95 (color ill.), 98 (color ill.), 100 (color ill.), 123.\n\nJanet C. Bishop, Corey Keller, and Sarah Rehm Roberts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: 75 Years of Looking Forward, exh. cat. (San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2009), 436.\n\nCarol Bove, Elena Filipovic, Andrea Rosen, Tino Sehgal, and Danh Vo, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Specific Objects Without Specific Form, exh. cat. (London: Koenig Books, 2016), 66-67 (color ill.), 68-69 (color ill.), 97, 98-99 (color ill.), 123 (color ill.), 124-125 (color ill.), 157 (color ill), 158-159 (color ill.), 199 (color ill.), 237 (color ill.), 328-329 (color ill.), 354-355 (color ill.), 454 (color ill.), 458 (color ill.), 459 (color ill.), 475 (color ill.), 477 (color ill.), 479 (color ill.), 489 (color ill.), 501 (color ill.), 523 (color ill.), 578 (color ill.), 579 (color ill.), 580 (color ill.), 582-583 (color ill.), 584 (color ills.), 585 (color ills.), 593 (color ill.), 621 (color ill.), 623 (color ills.), 625 (color ills.), 628 (color ill.), 641 (color ill.), 650.\n\nDaniela Gregori, Veit Loers, David Riedel, Karola Kraus, Doris Krystof, Jeder K\u00fcnstler Ist Ein Mensch!\": Positionen Des Selbstportraits (Every Artist is a Human Being!: Positions in Self-Portraiture), exh. cat. (Baden-Baden: K\u00f6ln: Staatliche Kunsthalle; K\u00f6nig, 2010), 60-61 (color ill.), 145.\n\nSoyeon Ahn, Miwon Kwon, Hong Ra-hee, F\u00e9lix Gonz\u00e1lez-Torres: Double, exh. cat. (Seoul: PLATEAU and Leeum Sams\u014fng Misulgwan. 2012), 9, 32-33, 42-43 (color ill.), 44 (ill.), 46-47 (color ill.), 52-53, 55. 86-87,104-105, 132, 135, 136, 143, n. 57, 150.\n\nJulie Ault and Roni Horn, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, exh. cat. (New York: Andrea Rosen Gallery, 2016) front and end cover (ill.), 8-9 (ill.), 11-26.\n\nElina Kountouri, with Donstantinos A. Papagerogiou, Maria D. Efthymiou, Maria Vlasopoulou, Peggy Dara, Kanis Kafantaris, Elli Droilia, and Elli Droulia, Portals, exh. cat. (Athens: NEON Foundation, 2021), 30, 92-95 color ills.), 288, 289 (color ill.), 393.\n\nRui Mateus Amaral, curator, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Summer, exh. brochure (Toronto: Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, 2022), n.p.\n\nRashid Johnson and Hendrik Folkerts, ON THE BLUE STAGE: A Conversation between Rashid Johnson and Hendrik Folkerts, exh. booklet (Stockholm: Moderna Museet, 2024), 48-49 (color ill.), 50-51 (color ill.).\n\nJosh T Franco and Charlotte Ickes, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Final Revenge (A Workbook), exh. workbook (Washington D.C.: National Portrait Gallery and the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2024), 6-41, 56-57, 62-63.","exhibition_history":"Brooklyn Museum of Art, Untitled. An Installation by Felix Gonzalez-Torres as Part of the Visual AIDS Program, Dec. 1, 1989\u2013Jan. 1, 1989, artist\u2019s statement, no cat.\n\nVancouver, University of British Columbia Fine Arts Gallery, Strange Ways, Here We Come: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Donald Moffett, Nov. 16\u2013Dec. 10, 1990, no cat no.\n\nLyon, Espace Lyonnais d\u2019Art Contemporain, Here\u2019s Looking at Me\/\u00c0 mes beaux yeux: Autoportraits contemporains, Jan. 29\u2013Apr. 30, 1993, no cat no.\n\nAspen, Tavelli Gallery, Group Show, July 15\u2013Aug. 7, 1993, no cat.\n\nLos Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Traveling, Apr. 24\u2013June 19, 1994, not in cat; Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, June 16\u2013Sept. 11, 1994; Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Sept. 25\u2013Nov. 6, 1994 (Washington D.C. only).\n\nNew York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mar. 3\u2013May 10, 1995, not in cat; Santiago de Compostela, Centro Galego de Arte Contempor\u00e1nea, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: A Possible Landscape, Dec. 12, 1995\u2013Mar. 3, 1996; Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Girlfriend in a Coma, Apr. 11\u2013June 16, 1996, (Santiago de Compostela and Paris only).\n\nHannover, Sprengel Museum, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, June 1-Aug. 24, 1997, cat. 70, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Sept. 6-Nov. 16, 1997; Vienna, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Sept. 12-Nov. 1, 1998 (St. Gallen only).\n\nCasino Luxembourg, Forum d\u2019art Contemporain, Manifesta 2: European Biennial of Contemporary Art, June 28\u2013Oct. 11, 1998, not in cat.\n\nVienna, Kunsthalle Wien, Cuba: Maps of Desire, Mar. 19\u2013May 30, 1999, no cat. no.; Kunstraum Innsbruck, June 9\u2013Sept. 18, 1999; Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, June 18\u2013Aug. 15, 1999. \n\nBilbao, Guggenheim Museum, International Currents in Contemporary Art, July 24, 1999\u2013Jan. 9, 2000, no cat.\n\nPittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie International 1999\/2000, Nov. 6, 1999\u2013Mar. 26, 2000, no cat. no.\n\nLondon, Serpentine Gallery, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, June 1\u2013July 16, 2000, no cat no.\n\nMadrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Versiones del Sur: No es s\u00f3lo lo que ves: pervirtiendo el minimalismo, Dec. 12, 2000\u2013Feb. 19, 2001, no cat no.\n\nSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Points of Departure II: Connecting with Contemporary Art, Nov. 17, 2001\u2013June 9, 2002, no cat.\n\nDijon, Le Consortium, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Nov. 21, 2001\u2013Feb. 2, 2002, no cat. \n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Collection Rotation, June 2003\u2013Apr. 2008, no cat.\n\nSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Between Art and Life: The Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Collection, July 1, 2004\u2013January 21, 2007, no cat.\n\nBristol, Arnolfini, This Storm Is What We Call Progress, Sept. 10-Oct. 23, 2005, no cat no.\n\nBerlin, Hamburger Bahnhof Museum f\u00fcr Gegenwart, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Oct. 1, 2006\u2013Jan. 9, 2007, no cat no.\n\nMuseo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Somewhere\/Nowhere, Sept. 5\u2013Nov. 3, 2008, no cat no.; Mexico City, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporaneo, Feb. 27\u2013May 30, 2010, no cat no.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Inaugural Installation of the Modern Wing, May 15\u00ac, 2009\u2013July 2011, no cat.\n\nNew York, FLAG Art Foundation, Floating a Boulder: Works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Jim Hodges, Oct. 1, 2009\u2013Jan. 31, 2010, no cat no.\n\nSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 75 Years of Looking Forward: The Anniversary Show, Dec. 16, 2009\u2013Jan. 19, 2011, not in cat.   \n\nBrussels, WIELS Contemporary Art Center, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Specific Objects without Specific Form, Jan.16\u2013Apr. 25, 2010, extended to May 2, 2010 (curated by Elena Filipovic, Jan. 16\u2013Feb. 28, 2010, reinstalled by guest artist curator Dahn Vo, Mar. 5\u2013May2, 2010), cat. forthcoming; Riehen, Fondation Beyeler, May 22 to Aug. 29, 2010 (curated by Elena Filipovic, May 22\u2013July 25, 2010, reinstalled by guest artist curator Carol Bove, July 29\u2013Aug. 29, 2010); Frankfurt, Museum F\u00fcr Moderne Kunst, Jan. 29\u2013Apr. 25, 2011 (curated by Elena Filipovic, Jan. 29\u2013Mar. 14, 2011, reinstalled by guest artist curator Tino Sehgal, Mar. 18\u2013Apr. 25, 2011).\n\nStaatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Every Artist is a Human Being!: Positions in Self-Portraiture, Sept. 11\u2013Nov. 21, 2010, extended to Jan. 9, 2011, no cat no.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Inaugural Installation of the Modern Wing, July 21, 2011\u2013Mar. 8, 2015, no cat.\n\nSeoul, PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Double, June 21\u2013Sept. 28, 2012, no cat. no.    \n\nMargate, Turner Contemporary, Self: Image and Identity-self-portraiture from Van Dyck to Louise Bourgeois, Jan. 24\u2013May 10, 2015, no cat.  \n\nArt Institute of Chicago, The New Contemporary, Dec. 13, 2015\u2013on going.\n\nNew York, Andrea Rosen Gallery, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, May 3\u2013June 18, 2016, no cat. no.; Milan, Massimo De Carlo, May 21\u2013July 20, 2016; London, Hauser & Wirth, May 27\u2013July 30, 2016 (New York only).   \n\nInstitut Valenci\u00e0 d\u2019Art Modern, 1989: the End of the 20th Century, Jan. 24\u2013May 19, 2019, not in cat. \n\nAthens, former Public Tobacco Factory, Portals, June 11\u2013Dec. 31, 2021, no cat. no.\n\nMuseum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Summer, Mar. 10\u2013May 29, 2022 (preview Mar. 9), no cat. no.\n\nMuseum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Winter, June 1\u2013July 31, 2022, no cat. no.\n\nSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Afterimages: Echoes of the 1960s from the Fisher and SFMOMA Collections, Oct. 15, 2022\u2013Ongoing, no cat.\n\nStockholm, Moderna Museet, Seven Rooms and a Garden: Rashid Johnson and Moderna Museet\u2019s Collection, Sept. 30, 2023-Sept. 8, 2024 (extended to Sept. 22), no cat.\n\nWashington D.C., National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return, Oct. 18, 2024\u2013July 6, 2025, cat info forthcoming. \n\nCiudad L\u00f3pez Mateos, Mexico, La Cuadra San Crist\u00f3bal, F\u00e9lix Gonz\u00e1lez-Torres, Feb. 5\u2013Apr. 25, 2026, no cat.","provenance_text":null,"edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":246,"fiscal_year":2002,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":false,"is_zoomable":false,"max_zoom_window_size":1280,"copyright_notice":"\u00a9 The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation.","has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":16.3334,"color":{"h":38,"l":57,"s":11,"percentage":0.6477881485796786,"population":3069},"latitude":41.8804487055584,"longitude":-87.621552832425,"latlon":"41.880448705558,-87.621552832425","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 293","gallery_id":25470,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Sculpture","artwork_type_id":3,"department_title":"Contemporary Art","department_id":"PC-8","artist_id":55343,"artist_title":"Felix Gonzalez-Torres","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[55343],"artist_titles":["Felix Gonzalez-Torres"],"category_ids":["PC-8","PC-831","PC-829","PC-836"],"category_titles":["Contemporary Art","Essentials","Latin American","Contemporary works by BIPOC artists, summer 2021"],"term_titles":["installation","history","writing (processes)","paint","21st Century","words","dates","sculpture"],"style_id":"TM-12913","style_title":"21st Century","alt_style_ids":[],"style_ids":["TM-12913"],"style_titles":["21st Century"],"classification_id":"TM-1152","classification_title":"installation","alt_classification_ids":["TM-13"],"classification_ids":["TM-1152","TM-13"],"classification_titles":["installation","sculpture"],"subject_id":"TM-8818","alt_subject_ids":["TM-12474","TM-12475"],"subject_ids":["TM-8818","TM-12474","TM-12475"],"subject_titles":["history","words","dates"],"material_id":"TM-2577","alt_material_ids":[],"material_ids":["TM-2577"],"material_titles":["paint"],"technique_id":"TM-3985","alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":["TM-3985"],"technique_titles":["writing (processes)"],"theme_titles":["Essentials","Latin American","Contemporary works by BIPOC artists, summer 2021"],"image_id":"70cb3a8f-fe14-d63f-fabb-4b52de48d02e","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":["e2acbaa1-2f05-eca0-aa66-b5da5568cc32"],"sound_ids":["e2acbaa1-2f05-eca0-aa66-b5da5568cc32"],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"\"Untitled\"","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["2002.80"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["\"Untitled\""],"weight":6992,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-08-07T13:39:20-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-25T13:03:31-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-26T13:46:18-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. 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