Culturame

Felix Gonzales Torres & His Art

Adora: Do you remember the artist Felix Gonzales Torres who did those cool empty billboards all around town?

Teddy: I don’t remember the billboards, but I read about the ones he put up in New York with pictures of the bed he shared with his lover, Ross, who died in 1991 of AIDS related complications. The bed was empty and you could see how two people slept there. It immediately made you feel the intimacy any couple shares. And because the bed was white and full of shadows, you felt the emptiness and loss of intimacy.live.

Jean Genet ‘Le Chant d”Amour” 1950

Adora: So Teddy, now that the holidays are over and it’s a new year, what are your new projects?

Teddy: Well I just  saw the 1950  movie by the gay French film maker and writer, Jean Genet and I wound up re-discovering what great work he did on gay desire and the way it is really so subversive for mainstream society. It gave me a whole renewed way of looking at my sexuality in a social system that denies me my rights and tells me I ‘m going to Hell because of some lifestyle I’ve supposedly ‘chosen’ to live.

Calix Gustav Gallery

Tedy Behr: Ok Adora, now that it s finally over, what was your favorite thing during the Art Basel week?

Adora: I really liked the local shows like Miami Independent Thinkers, Baselita and many other grass roots events staged by local artist run groups.  But, the image that really stayed with me was the triptych photo by Jonathan Stein of this cute guy in drag beaten up and with the word ‘FAG’ carved into his forehead at the Calix Gustav Gallery on NW 29th Street. The three images of him as a boy, in drag and as the bloodied, gay bashed victim are so powerful they stayed in my mind even after all the art we saw.  I loved the title of the piece, “It’s Just make-up.”