A recent shoe campaign by Kith, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the X-Men series, has raised eyebrows in the art community for its striking similarity to the distinguished works of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, particularly his renowned candy installations.
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The campaign, launched in July, showcased shoes accumulated in a corner – a visual that mirrors the classic presentation of Gonzalez-Torres’s candy pieces. These artworks have historically been displayed against walls, in corners, or spread across floors, resembling a carpet of candies.
Designer and writer, Elizabeth Goodspeed, voiced her astonishment on Twitter, noting the uncanny resemblance between Kith’s campaign and Gonzalez-Torres’s poignant piece on his partner’s AIDS-related demise. Her tweet has since gained traction with over 30,000 likes.
The piece in discussion might be “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) from 1991. It is an intricate arrangement of wrapped candies, the dimensions of which can vary based on where it’s installed. The art is symbolic, representing Gonzalez-Torres’s boyfriend, Ross Laycock, who succumbed to AIDS that same year.
This artwork, like many of Gonzalez-Torres’s candy works, has a designated “ideal weight”, in this instance, 175 pounds – signifying the average weight of an adult male. The candies are always in “endless supply”, allowing viewers to take and consume them. While many interpret such pieces as reflections on the AIDS epidemic or mortality, Gonzalez-Torres described them in diverse contexts. Some, like 1990’s “Untitled” (USA Today) or “Untitled” (Portrait of Marcel Brient), do not directly address these themes but have similarly been showcased in corner settings.
Kith’s campaign, a joint venture with Marvel and ASICS, introduced seven novel versions of the GEL-LYTE III shoe as tributes to X-Men protagonists. Interestingly, no reference to Gonzalez-Torres’s creations was made in the collection’s announcement.
The image of the shoes, stacked in a corner, seemed to serve promotional purposes for the GEL-LYTE III shoes. It remains unclear if the shoes were meant to be taken by viewers or if they were even publicly displayed. Kith representatives remained unavailable for comments.
Elaborating on her initial reaction, Goodspeed mentioned in another tweet, “I doubt this was intentional, but I don’t think that makes it any better—still a massive oversight that no one thought of / knew either visually similar reference, both of which have important context and intense emotional meaning. Inept moodboarding or media illiteracy at best!”
