On the tenth anniversary of the American artist’s death, this catalog was published in 2006 to accompany a major retrospective at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, organized by the nGbK’s RealismusStudio work group. With his precise observation of social, cultural, and political realities, whose complexity he translated into simple forms, Félix González-Torres made an important contribution to conceptual art as a politically motivated artform. As Frank Wagner writes in the foreword: “The effacement of history, the efficiency of the political system, and the threat posed to freedom, the socio-cultural determination of gender, death, and loss were all themes that reverberated through his artistic work.” From the lightbulbs to the piles of candies, from the stacks of posters to the C-print puzzles and billboards—the catalog contains many plates offering an insight into the oeuvre of this artist who died from AIDS-related illness in 1996. With essays by Heike-Karin Föll, Petra Reichensperger, Gregor Stemmrich, Susanne Weiß, and Michael Wetzel.

Ed.: nGbK

Work group: Friederike Anders, Hildtrud Ebert, Anke Hoffmann, Christin Lahr, Frank Wagner, Susanne Weiß; further participants: Susann Schwarz

With contributions by: Julie Ault, Heike-Karin Föll, Petra Reichensperger, Gregor Stemmrich, Frank Wagner, Susanne Weiß, Michael Wetzel