Always to Return

Always to Return examines Felix Gonzalez–Torres’s work in relation to portraiture and accompanies a major exhibition of the same name at the National Portrait Gallery and the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. As one of the leading artists of the twentieth century, Gonzalez-Torres broadened the horizon of portraiture from a genre associated with static representations of individuals to one with the capacity to change, remain resonant, and encourage collaboration. With no formal beginning or end point, the exhibition and monograph unfold at the intersection of Gonzalez-Torres’s groundbreaking work, the context of two Smithsonian collections, and the historically significant setting of Washington, DC. Always to Return weaves together documentation of the exhibition with new scholarship by the exhibition’s curators, Josh T Franco and Charlotte Ickes; essays by Julie Ault and Joshua Chambers-Letson; and archival texts that shape the conceptual foundation for the exhibition. This in-depth look at the artist’s relationship to portraiture and historiography provides a new way into the practice of one the most significant artists of our time.