"Untitled" (Perfect Lovers)
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
American, born Cuba. 1957–1996
1991
Two identical wall clocks mounted side by side on a pale-blue painted wall, arranged to run in sync as a quiet, poetic gesture about intimacy, time, and the fragility of human relationships.
What hits you first is the calm, formal symmetry — crisp white faces, bold black numerals and thin red second hands almost perfectly aligned — a domestic, minimalist tableau whose steady ticking makes the passage of time feel both ordinary and ominous.
By turning everyday clocks into a mutable public sculpture, Gonzalez‑Torres transformed banal objects into carriers of personal grief and political urgency, opening up conceptual art to themes of love, loss, and audience participation (the clocks can be reset or replaceable as part of the work).
Medium
Wall clocks and paint on wall
Dimensions
Overall dimensions variable; clocks 14" diameter x 2 3/4" (35.6 cm diameter x 7 cm) each
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the Dannheisser Foundation
Accession
177.1996.a-b
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
