“Untitled” (Loverboy) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Fundació Mies van der Rohe presents, from 25 March to 11 April 2021, “Untitled” (Loverboy) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, a site-specific piece at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion shown as part of the retrospective exhibition at MACBA of the work Politics of Relationship by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. The intentionally cryptic subtlety of the work now presented in the Pavilion underlines the impact of the materialities of each surface.

The curtain of dense, heavy, falling colour, which together with the onyx and the carpet adds the third colour of the German flag, becomes a very light, undulating, light blue tulle that flutters beyond the end of the window. The adaptation of this piece to the architectural space and the poetic sensuality it introduces opens our gaze not only to the work presented but also to new rereadings of the Pavilion.

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This installation, consisting of translucent fabric curtains that tint the light of the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion blue, introduces a new sensuality to the architectural space. It is a special work because it is the only one that is assigned a new inventory number each time it is produced. Even though the author is no longer present, the piece continues to evolve.

The overall exhibition curated by Tanya Barson offers a political reading of Gonzalez-Torres’ work in relation to postcolonial discourse and the anti-fascist fight, mainly in Spain and the Americas, their shared histories and commonalities, and how they impact on a personal level through issues of memory, authority, freedom and national identity.

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In the case of the installation in the Pavilion it also addresses the formative importance of Gonzalez-Torres’ work in queer aesthetics. In the exhibition, all these aspects are related, for example through the dialogue between militarism and homoeroticism, or through Gonzalez-Torres’ engagement with the idea of the monument, which can be related to narratives of race, colonialism and fascism.

Ivan Blasi, curator of the programmes of Fundació Mies van der Rohe, says “A blue curtain replaces the red one and issues of memory, authority, freedom and national identity are emphasised; the Pavilion was commissioned by the Weimar Republic in the interwar period and while Spain is under monarchy and dictatorship. A blue curtain that in each presentation is produced anew and gets its own registration number, giving a continuous life to the work. An absolutely different and highly recommendable experience in the Pavilion”. Source and photos Courtesy of Fundació Mies van der Rohe.

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