Félix González-Torres and Joseph Kosuth have exhibited their artwork together to address social and political issues in meaning production (1). Both have taken the position that moral agency is significant to the conceptual art movement with respect to issues their work has addressed, in particular, the Vietnam War, the AIDS crisis, and “law and order” policies that have left racial minorities vulnerable in the war on crime. González-Torres and Kosuth are keenly aware of the methods of communication utilized by commercial and political authorities whose influences dominate meaning production in the cultural landscape. Their work extends from this position to address the problematic tendency that Kosuth describes as ”leaning on the market to provide the meaning for the activity” and that González-Torres has said concerns the issues shaping us in the world and flow into the studio to shape the art that we produce (2).
Kosuth’s definitions of Medium and Society in this exhibition are a part of his “Art as Idea as Idea” series, that aim to challenge established meanings while pointing out that meaning shifts in society. The Definitions exist in a culture in which people yield to assumed authority and take the shifts of meaning and the agency of people who carry meaning for granted. In an art context, not confined by an assumed authority that definitions usually afford, Kosuth’s Definitions invite us to look at them critically and in the context of shifting meanings, to evaluate the problems of meaning production generally, and to consider our agency as participants who shape society's meaning in spite of the influences yielded by concentrated authorities.
The appropriated polysemous definition of Medium itself offers multiple contexts; biological, material, spiritual, advertising, and painting, all reminding us that meaning exists in various arenas and adapts. Like context, a word, a definition, or a phrase may also become significant in ways that are conveyed with cultural cues embedded in their presentation. A particular layout, typeface, or color, among other qualities have the ability to influence a text's interpretation as demonstrated by Untitled (It’s Just a Matter of Time), 1992. The somewhat ambiguous phrase takes on additional meaning by adopting a typeface that we associate with Nazi propaganda and that Nazi’s themselves used to associate their output with their idea of German national identity. These qualities can contribute to the delivery of the message and give it an air of authority.
Untitled, 1992 is a graphic motif designed by González-Torres for a vinyl decal artwork (depicting a circle of ten dolphins) and as a body tattoo (a circle of 8 dolphins). While it does not utilize text, it contains a visual language that we interpret similar to the way in which information is conveyed to us with cultural cues in advertising media. The permanent corporeal marking as a context itself is appropriate for the design González-Torres offers; an unbroken ring of dolphins reminiscent of symbolism that conveys community and harmony. The fascist and authoritative qualities of Untitled (It’s Just a Matter of Time), 1992 complement the utopian quality of the Untitled design for a tattoo in that they operate similarly in a cultural context saturated by the language of advertising media. This is not unlike Kosuth’s definitions which have the quality of being charged with authority because they are definitions generated by experts. Kosuth and González-Torres both play with authorities’ use of language in order to challenge normalized engagement with it. Both artists’ make work with an awareness and recognition of advertising’s influence on social and cultural meaning production.
Forbidden Colors (1988) presents four monochrome panels each sharing a color of the Palestinian flag in an act of solidarity and opposition to injustices imposed on Palestine by its illegal occupier. The four colors grouped together in any manner were outlawed by Israeli lawmakers and enforcers from 1967 to 1993 and again in 2023 (3). The series of colors - a distillation of the palestinian flag and its color’s symbolism, presents itself like a statement similar to the way advertisement media uses color and symbolism. As González-Torres states,
“This work is about my exclusion from the circle of power where social and cultural values are elaborated and about my rejection of the imposed and established order. It is a fact people are discriminated against for being HIV positive. It is a fact the majority of the Nazi industrialists retained their wealth after war. It is a fact the night belongs to Michelob and Coke is real. It is a fact the color of your skin matters. It is a fact Crazy Eddie’s prices are insane. It is a fact that four colors red, black, green and white placed next to each other in any form are strictly forbidden by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories. This color combination can cause an arrest, a beating, a curfew, a shooting, or a news photograph. Yet it is a fact that these forbidden colors, presented as a solitary act of consciousness here in SoHo, will not precipitate a similar reaction.” (4)
The way we read a dictionary definition, interpret the motif of a tattoo, read a bus ad, or view a combination of national colors or captions beneath an image to understand our world around us is heavily influenced by powers that use these, and any other available medium, to convey and inform, often without revealing their underlying motivations. Without saying what the motivations are or may be, Kosuth and González-Torres’ art invites us to step back and consider them with a kind of objectivity or unmediated subjectivity. González-Torres’s Photostats are a series of text works (white on black) listing events, people, organizations, places and things etc. alongside a year associated with each. There is no accompanying explanation. The viewer is left to interpret all that they know of its mentions and determine their significance based only on culture’s iterations of them. Author, Monica De La Torres describes the Photostats as “coded messages awaiting decipherment”. Prompted by a neutral-seeming presentation it “escapes neither interconnectedness nor time’s inexorable march” (5).
This collection of works by Kosuth and González-Torres remind us of the general tendency to passively accept and yield to the authority of the text and images generated by commercial entities. Our world is saturated with memes and messages designed to influence us to such a degree that they potentially affect the production of meaning broadly while perpetuating their cultural output of influence. Critical consideration of the methods and means of these dominant influencers is significant to considering meaning and our own agency in its production.
Footnotes:
1. Félix González-Torres and Joseph Kosuth, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY. January 20 – February 18, 2005
2. Félix González-Torres and Joseph Kosuth, “Félix González-Torres and Joseph Kosuth, Artists on AD”, 1994. https://brooklynrail.org/2014/01/artists-on-ad/félix González-torres-and-joseph-kosuth/
3. Carnegie Museum of Art, “Félix González-Torres”, 2025. https://carnegieart.org/people/félix González-torres/
4. Félix González-Torres. Artist Statement, New York City, 1988.
5. Félix González-Torres. Photostats. Published by Siglio Press, 2020, p. 35.
List of Artworks:
1. Félix Gonzáles Torres, Forbidden Colors, 1988. Acrylic on panel. 20 x 68 inches. Four parts: 20 x 16 inches each.
2. Joseph Kosuth, 'Titled (A.A.I.A.I.)' [medium], 1968 Mounted photograph. 48 x 48 inches.
3. Félix Gonzáles Torres, Untitled (It’s Just a Matter of Time), 1992. Wheatpasted poster. 48 x 60 inches.
4. Joseph Kosuth, 'Titled (Art as Idea as Idea)' [society], 1968. Mounted photograph 48 x 48 inches
5. Félix Gonzáles Torres, Untitled, 1992. Tattoo. Courtesy of the Félix González Torres Foundation.
Joseph Kosuth, 'Titled (Art as Idea as Idea)' [society], 1968.
(instilation view) Mounted photograph 48 x 48 inches.
Joseph Kosuth, 'Titled (Art as Idea as Idea)' [society],
1968. Mounted photograph 48 x 48 inches
Félix González Torres, Forbidden Colors, 1988.
Acrylic on panel. 20 x 68 inches. Four parts: 20 x 16 inches each.
Joseph Kosuth, 'Titled (A.A.I.A.I.)' [medium], 1968,
(instaliation view) Mounted photograph. 48 x 48
Joseph Kosuth, 'Titled (A.A.I.A.I.)' [medium],
1968 Mounted photograph. 48 x 48 inches.
Félix González Torres, Untitled (It’s Just a Matter of Time), 1992.
Wheatpasted poster. 48 x 60 inches.
Félix González Torres, Untitled, 1992.
Tattoo. Courtesy of the Félix González Torres Foundation.
Félix González Torres, Forbidden Colors, 1988.
Acrylic on panel. 20 x 68 inches. Four parts: 20 x 16 inches each.