"Untitled" (America #1) 1992

Felix Gonzalez-Torres's "Untitled" (America #1) from 1992 is a minimalist installation piece featuring a string of light bulbs strung across a gallery wall and cascading to the floor. The work is part of the artist's "Untitled" series, which he began in 1987. He utilized the string of lights as a metaphor for the impermanence of life and the fragility of human relationships. Gonzalez-Torres, who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 1996, considered the lights to be a metaphor for his own life, their fading a reminder of the passing of time. The piece is a poignant testament to the artist's creative genius and his poignant perspective on the human condition.