How does this artwork elucidate its Exhibitions and interpretations?
“Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) was first exhibited in a solo-presentation of the artist's work at Luhring Augustine Hetzler Gallery, Los Angeles, CA which was open from October 19 – November 16, 1991. The press release for the exhibition stated: "The real life and work of an artist exists within its own flowing continuum."González-Torres's partner Ross Laycock died of AIDS related complications in 1991, the same year as "Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)'s creation. The work has been interpreted as an "allegorical portrait" of Laycock.The work was included in Could Not Bear the Sight of It: Contemporary Art Interventions on Critical Whiteness, an exhibition at the Jane Addams Hull House-Museum in Chicago, IL in 2012. The exhibition, curated by Lisa Yun Lee and Theaster Gates, sought to "ask a series of questions about how whiteness is both invisible and dominant: Is there any such thing as white culture? What is the secret to being white? How has whiteness changed over time? What does a world without racism look like?"
In 2016, "Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) was installed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the exhibition Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible. The exhibition centered on the question of when an artwork is considered finished, and included works which were left incomplete by their makers, as well as those which were intentionally unfinished as a way to embrace unlimited possibilities.
At some point between the summer of 2018 and fall of 2022, the Art Institute of Chicago removed references to Ross Laycock, homosexuality, and AIDS from the wall label for “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). This information remained in the audio guide that accompanied the installation. The edited label applauded Gonzalez-Torres's "uncanny ability to produce elegant and unrestrained sculptural forms out of common materials" and equates the 175 lb. of candy to the "average weight of an adult male". The edited label was replaced with a new wall label which included the previously removed context after the removal was decried by a letter in The Windy City Times and by a viral Tweet. Joshua Chambers-Letson was quoted in an October 2022 article for the Chicago Tribune: “Felix left a lot of responsibility in the hands of the people who exhibit the piece, and he was very generous in allowing spectators to produce any meaning that they need to in relationship to the work…. I can understand that person's reaction, but also, Ross is in the title. Felix secured for the rest of all time that there would be a reference to Ross (in the work).” In January 2023, Artnet News published an article that commented on these wall labels, saying "what the incident at the Art Institute illustrated was the complexities and nuances inherent to Gonzalez-Torres's work—and the intense personal connection to his story that many feel."The Art Story Foundation viewed the candy-eating aspect as "[one becoming] complicit in the disappearing process - akin to the years-long public health crisis of HIV/AIDS." Lauren Weinberg of Time Out Chicago interpreted it similarly: "the diminishment recalls how he wasted away before dying."The Art Story Foundation called "Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) "one of González-Torres's most recognizable works." As of 2023, the work has been included in over 30 different exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world.
The Windy City Times Art Institute of Chicago Windy City Times