| Gilbert And George |
Article Index for Gilbert And |
Website Links For Gilbert |
Information AboutGilbert And George |
|
EARLY LIFE Gilbert was born in St. Martin in Thurn/ Dolomites in South Tyrol / Italy , and studied Art at the Wolkenstein School of Art and Hallein School of Art, Austria and the Akademie der Kunst, Munich before moving to England . George was born in Plymouth in the United Kingdom , and first studied art at the Dartington Hall College of Art and the Oxford School of Art. The two first met on 25th September 1967 while studying Sculpture at St Martins School of Art, now Central Saint Martins College Of Art And Design , one of five colleges in the University Of The Arts London , London . The two claim they came together because George was the only person who could understand Gilbert's rather poor spoken English . In a 2002 interview with ''The Daily Telegraph'' they said of their meeting: "it was love at first sight." (''Telegraph'', 2002.05.28). It is widely assumed that Gilbert & George are lovers, although they always dismiss questions about their sex lives. PERFORMANCE ARTISTS They were initially known as Performance Art ists. While still students they made ''The Singing Sculpture'' (1970), for which they covered themselves in gold metallic paint, stood on a table, and mimed to a recording of Flanagan And Allen 's song "Underneath the Arches", sometimes for hours at a time. A number of works from the early 1970s consisted of the two of them getting Drunk , usually on Gin . ''Smashed'' (1973) was a set of Photograph s documenting a drunken evening, while ''Gordon's Makes Us Drunk'' is a Film of the pair drinking Gordon's gin, occasionally saying "Gordon's makes us very drunk" and listening to Classical Music . This work, in common with many others by Gilbert and George, is executed in a completely Deadpan way. The matching business suits which they wore for these performances became a sort of uniform for them, and they rarely appear in public unless wearing them. It is also virtually unheard of for one of the pair to be seen without the other. They refuse to disassociate their performances from their everyday lives, insisting that everything they do is art. The pair regard themselves as "living sculptures". PHOTO-MONTAGES The pair are perhaps best known for their large scale photo-montages, such as ''Cosmological Pictures'' (1993), frequently tinted in extremely bright colours, backlit, and overlaid with black grids so as to resemble Stained Glass windows. Gilbert & George themselves often feature in these works, along with flowers and youths, their friends, and echoes of Christian symbolism. The early works in this style were in black and white, with red and yellow touches in later series. Later these works moved to use a range of bold colours. Their 2005 work, ''Sonofagod'', has returned to a more sombre and darker palette. Some series of their pictures have attracted media attention through including potentially shocking imagery, including Nudity , depictions of Sexual Acts , and bodily fluids, such as Faeces , Urine and Semen . The titling of their series, such as "Naked Shit Paintings" (1995), has also contributed to media attention. In 1986 Gilbert and George attracted criticism from Left-wing commentators for a series of works seemingly glamorizing 'rough types' of London's East End such as Skinhead s, while a picture of an asian man bore the derogatory title " Paki ". For many years they have been residents of Spitalfields , East London. In 2000 they moved Galleries to be represented by White Cube . AWARDS They won the Turner Prize in 1986, and represented the UK at the 2005 Venice Biennale . TRIVIA
FURTHER READING
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|