“Stop to experience an artwork you can literally take home. This stack of prints, featuring birds in a serene sky, invites you to participate in its ever-changing existence, challenging what art can be.”
This artwork, "Untitled" (Silver Beach), presents a serene, almost abstract image of birds soaring across a cloud-dappled sky. The piece is part of a series of "endless copies," a hallmark of Félix González-Torres's practice, where viewers are invited to take a print from the stack. This act of participation transforms the art object, allowing it to diminish and be replenished, mirroring cycles of presence and absence. The simple, repeated image of birds in flight, a motif González-Torres used in various forms, evokes a sense of freedom, ephemerality, and perhaps a quiet longing. By making the artwork physically accessible and consumable, it challenges traditional notions of ownership and permanence in art, inviting a personal, intimate connection with each viewer who takes a piece of the sky home.
- Artist
- Félix González-Torres
- Date
- 1990
- Medium
- Offset print on paper, endless copies
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- 50.8 × 66.4 × 58.7 cm (20 × 26 × 23 in.)
- Collection
- Contemporary Art
- Culture
- United States
- Credit line
- Through prior bequest of Marguerita S. Ritman, through prior gift of Lucille E. and Joseph L. Block; Sara Szold and Marjorie and Louis Susman Funds
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The stack of identical prints, inviting you to take one.
The subtle variations in the clouds and light within the image.
The way the birds are captured mid-flight, almost silhouetted.
The paper's texture and how it catches the gallery light.
Stand in front of it and listen
The full narration walks you through "Untitled" (Silver Beach) — the story behind it, the details most visitors miss, and why it matters. Free in the Art Whisper app.
Félix González-Torres
1957–1996 · CubaFélix González-Torres transformed everyday objects like light bulbs and wrapped candies into profound meditations on love, loss, and public engagement.
Further Works by González-Torres
Gonzalez and Shadow
1972 · Art Institute of Chicago
"Untitled" (Bloodwork—Steady Decline)
1993 · Art Institute of Chicago
Extemporaneous
Art Institute of Chicago
Portrait of Edmond de Goncourt
Art Institute of Chicago
"Untitled" (Paris)
1988 · Art Institute of Chicago
"Untitled"
1989 · Art Institute of Chicago
"Untitled" (t-cell count)
1990 · Art Institute of Chicago
"Untitled" (Fainted)
1991 · Art Institute of Chicago
More works to explore
Beyond González-Torres: works from the same years.
Same era · 1970s–2000s
Unfinished painting
Keith Haring · 1989
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Pat Hearn
Andy Warhol · 1985 · Art Institute of Chicago
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Kiki (Smith)
Chuck Close · 2000 · Art Institute of Chicago
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Near the Lagoon
Jasper Johns · 2002 · Art Institute of Chicago
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Wu Street
Xu Bing · 1993 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1970s–2000s
Cremaster 5: The Queen of Chain
Matthew Barney · 1997 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1970s–2000s
American Horizon
Jane Wooster Scott · 2000 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1970s–2000s
It's a New Age
William Hook · 1992 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1970s–2000s
Krach
Philip West · 1987 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1970s–2000s
Cremaster 2: Deseret
Birgit Cullberg · 1999 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1970s–2000s
Thistles
Michele Elizabeth Field · 2004 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Same era · 1970s–2000s
Blood Pool
Kiki Smith · 1992 · Art Institute of Chicago
