Behind the simplicity and beauty of this untitled photograph of a brilliantly-colored flowerbed by Félix González-Torres are two remarkable stories of love, loss, and resilience. As with most of his works, the photograph is untitled followed by a parenthesis that provides some context clues. In this case, an inscription on the reverse of the photograph reads: For Laura (Alice B. Toklas + Gertrude Stein Flower Bed in Paris).
Commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and riffing on the “I Want You” army recruitment campaigns of the 1930s and 1940s, Labat asked Bay Area residents to interpret the slogan and make their own demands of the public in a series of live performance auditions. Given one minute to seize the voice of authority, contestants were asked to be the finger-pointing Uncle Sam, and their performances—as on the TV program American Idol —were voted on by a live audience. Five winners were chosen and their image and slogans appeared on posters throughout San Francisco to coincide with the presidential elections.
Since the early 1980s, Cuban-born Tony Labat has been an important participant in the California performance and video scene...
Graphic memoir charts an ominous journey from Fidel Castro’s Cuba to Donald Trump’s America Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Books review Graphic memoir charts an ominous journey from Fidel Castro’s Cuba to Donald Trump’s America Cuban American artist Edel Rodriguez, labelled a “worm” for fleeing Cold War Cuba in 1980, tells story of his progress from impoverished boyhood to creating alarming covers for Time magazine David D'Arcy 9 February 2024 Share The front cover of Worm © 2023 Edel Rodriguez On the cover of the graphic memoir Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey , which follows the artist and illustrator Edel Rodriguez from 1970s Cuba to the US, the author draws himself as a boy wearing the red scarf of the José Martí Pioneer Organization and a beret with a star high on his head—the attribute of no less than Ernesto “Che” Guevara...
Behind the simplicity and beauty of this untitled photograph of a brilliantly-colored flowerbed by Félix González-Torres are two remarkable stories of love, loss, and resilience...
Commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and riffing on the “I Want You” army recruitment campaigns of the 1930s and 1940s, Labat asked Bay Area residents to interpret the slogan and make their own demands of the public in a series of live performance auditions...