"Untitled" (Last Light) 1993

Felix Gonzalez-Torres created "Untitled" (Last Light), and he made it from a string of bare lightbulbs. I can imagine Torres standing back, squinting, making subtle adjustments to the height of each bulb, each millimeter a meditation on light and space, on the fragile balance between presence and absence. It's like a musical score, each light a note in a melody of illumination. There's something incredibly tender about this work. It is what painting can learn from sculpture and light: a meditation on time, loss, and the persistence of memory. In its simplicity, this work echoes the quiet power of Agnes Martin’s grids or the solemnity of a Rothko chapel. It's as though Torres is whispering, inviting us to contemplate the ephemeral nature of existence, the way we flicker and fade, yet still manage to leave a trace.