I went to the Met Breuer yesterday to catch the Unfinished:Thoughts Left Visible exhibit before it closed. With over 200 works on two floors, it was a full afternoon. After the first few galleries of work left unintentionally unfinished from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, I thought I might have overdosed and wanted to go home. But after some food I remembered the other floor and headed back in. This was more modern work that the artists purposely left undone or designed to never be finished. I was haunted by the paintings of Joseph Mallord William Taylor whose landscapes left one with the feeling of having been there without specific landmarks. I was tickled by the cheeky short film by Jorge Macchi, La Flecha de Zenón (Zeno's Arrow). I have a bit of a crush on Zeno and this was an excellent illustration of the paradox between the infinity of numbers and the finite aspect of our world. I found the Roman Opalka series OPALKA 1965/1 - ∞ to be beautiful and brilliant.
But this one I could take home with me. Felix Gonzalez-Torres' beautiful homage to love, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). The infinitely replenished pile of candy in multi-colored wrappers in tribute to his late partner, a metaphor for his body diminished by AIDS. Visitors are encouraged to take a candy with them, slowly depleting the pile. The museum replenishes it as it gets low, so the piece is never finished. Unending, the way life cannot be. Wow. I'm floored and honored.
