Main content

Es Devlin on Felix Gonzalez-Torres's Perfect Lovers

Episode 12 of 30

Radio 3 presents a radiophonic art exhibition, as 30 of the world’s most creative minds choose their favourite work from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Ep 12 Es Devlin.

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, continues his deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means β€œto see” art.

Today's edition features British stage designer and sculptor Es Devlin. Devlin has made large scale touring stage sculptures in collaboration with BeyoncΓ©, Kanye West Adele, U2, and the Royal Opera House in London, as well as designing the London Olympic Closing Ceremony in 2012. She has selected Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ Perfect Lovers - in which two synchronized clocks, like those typically found in offices and public spaces, are displayed side by side. One will inevitably stop before the other. Created whilst Felix Gonzalez-Torres's partner was ill, it embodies the tension that comes from two people living side-by-side as life moves forward towards death. Laycock died of AIDS six years before Gonzalez-Torres's own death in 1996. What will one of the world's greatest set designers see in this simple, poignant work?

Producer: Tom Alban

Main Image: Felix Gonzalez-Torres,"Untitled" (Perfect Lovers), 1991. Clocks, paint on wall, overall 14 x 28 x 2 3/4" (35.6 x 71.2 x 7 cm). Gift of the Dannheisser Foundation, The Museum of Modern Art, 177.1996.a-b. Β© 2019 The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

Available now

14 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Tue 29 Oct 2019 22:45
  • Sun 26 Jul 2020 14:45
  • Sun 2 Aug 2020 00:15

View the works of art

View the works of art

See all of the works from the Museum of Modern Art selected by guests in this series.

What did we find out when a cosmologist looked at Van Gogh’s The Starry Night?

What did we find out when a cosmologist looked at Van Gogh’s The Starry Night?

How does scientist Janna Levin see Van Gogh's night sky, painted from inside an asylum?

Podcast