This was the first major exhibition in Britain of the late Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ work.
Within his lifetime, Gonzalez-Torres expressed a particular kinship with the Serpentine Gallery both in terms of its programme and its physical location in the middle of a public park. A core theme of his work was the relationship between the public and private: what defines public and private space? What is the role of the public institution versus the private owner? Where is the line between personal and public responsibility?
This exhibition addressed these ideas both at the Serpentine, and also beyond the gallery’s walls through collaborations with Camden Arts Centre, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art, as well as by means of 12 billboards across London.
Since Gonzalez-Torres left only ideas regarding the production and installation of his works, each exhibition is a result of the creative partnership between his ideas and those who engage with them – the curator, the institution, the viewer and the community.
