Anonymous #1 14w

that is an art piece by Felix Gonzalez-Torres called Portrait of Ross. it’s 175 pounds of candy, the same weight Felix’s partner, Ross Laycock, was before he began to deteriorate and die of AIDS. people who view the piece in person can take a piece of candy, and the pile wearing down slowly as the candy is taken is meant to represent the gradual deterioration of Ross’ body.

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Anonymous OP 14w

jesus that’s dark

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Anonymous #2 14w

in a similar vein, this is Electric Fan by John Boskovich. the fan is the only item John was able to take from his partner’s estate after his partner, Stephen Earabino, died from AIDS. Stephen’s family removed all other items from his home in an assumed attempt to erase the memory of him after his death.

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Anonymous #1 14w

Do people not know Portrait of Ross? I thought it was, like, how people know The Bean and stuff.

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Anonymous #3 14w

some people really just don’t pay attention to art at all

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Anonymous #3 14w

No, we don’t. I, as a gay man, have never heard of this.

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Anonymous #3 14w

The bean is stuff you learn about in elementary school. We know only too well how unwilling authority is to teach queer history

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Anonymous #7 14w

i didn’t learn about Portrait of Ross, Electric Fan, or even pieces like Unfinished Painting by Keith Haring until pretty well into college, probably my sophomore year when taking an art history class through my university’s liberal arts college. even then, it was a very brief lesson because it’s “sad” and “uncomfortable to talk about”. crazy to me to hear those words in an art history class, like is that not what art is supposed to do?

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Anonymous OP 14w

I’ve never even heard these pieces until today, which makes me feel a little sick

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Anonymous #7 14w

if you’d like to look more into this era and type of art, i highly recommend looking at Ron Athey’s performance art pieces (especially those from the early 90s), Nicholas Nixon’s “Pictures of People”, “Positive” and “Silence = Death” by Rosa von Praunheim, and the work of Robert Mapplethorpe.

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