"It is a fact people are discriminated against for being HIV positive. It is a fact the majority of the Nazi industrialists retained their wealth after war. It is a fact the night belongs to Michelob and Coke is real. It is a fact the color of your skin matters. It is a fact Crazy Eddie’s prices are insane. It is a fact that four colors red, black, green and white placed next to each other in any form are strictly forbidden by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories. This color combination can cause an arrest, a beating, a curfew, a shooting, or a news photograph. Yet it is a fact that these forbidden colors, presented as a solitary act of consciousness here in SoHo, will not precipitate a similar reaction.
From the first moment of encounter, the four colour canvases in this room will “speak” to everyone. Some will define them as an exercise in color theory, or some sort of abstraction. Some as four boring rectangular canvases hanging on the wall. Now that you’ve read this text, I hope for a different message."
Félix González-Torres (1957–1996) is described by his foundation's linked biographer as "one of the most significant artists to emerge in the late 1980s and early 1990s," as his work "resonates with meaning that is at once specific and mutable, rigorous and generous, poetic and political."
One of his most well-known installation pieces is "Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), which is a pile of candy weighing 175 pounds and was first exhibited in his gallery in 1991, the year his partner Ross Laycock died of AIDS-related complications.
A full gallery of the artist's work can be viewed on his foundation's page.
Regarding the specific piece above, it should be repeated that Forbidden Colors was originally produced/exhibited in 1988.
Free Palestine. 🇵🇸