Gilbert & George
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Who are Gilbert & George?
Gilbert & George are a collaborative British art duo consisting of Gilbert Proesch (born 1943 in Italy) and George Passmore (born 1942 in England). Meeting as students at St. Martinās School of Art in London in 1967, they challenged conventional methods by blurring the lines between their life and art, declaring themselves "living sculptures" by 1969.
Their work includes live performances such as The Singing Sculpture (1969), videos, large charcoal drawings, and multi-paneled photographic works that often carry social and political messages. Gilbert & George's art, exhibited globally, is known for its dynamic, humorous, and sometimes controversial exploration of modern life, often provoking both laughter and outrage.
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What kind of art do Gilbert & George create?
Gilbert & George, the collaborative British artist team of Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore, significantly impacted postwar British conceptual art through their dynamic and humorous self-insertion into their art.
Initially challenging conventional methods at St. Martinās School of Art, they blurred the lines between their real and artistic lives, famously declaring themselves "living sculptures" by 1969. Their early work included live performances like The Singing Sculpture (1969), and videos such as A Portrait of the Artists as Young Men (1970).
Later, they shifted to large, multi-paneled photographic works with social and political themes, often dyeing black-and-white photos with bold colors, resembling modern stained glass. Their art, including works like Attacked (1991), often sparked controversy and provoked strong reactions, continuing into the 21st century.
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Why do they work together as a duo instead of individually?
Gilbert & George, British artists Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore, met in 1967 as students at St. Martinās School of Art in London. They challenged conventional methods by blurring the lines between their lives and their art. By 1969, they presented themselves as "living sculptures," questioning the art object through live performances and videos. Their performances included dressing in suits, bronzing their faces, and performing synchronized movements to old songs. They claimed their entire lives as art. Gilbert & George's collaborative approach questioned traditional artistic norms.
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What are some themes or messages in their artwork?
Gilbert & George, British artists Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore, challenge conventional art through their dynamic and often humorous performances and photo-based artworks.
Themes in their art:
* Critique of Art Conventions They question the reverence of art objects, blurring the lines between their life and art.
* Social and Political Commentary Their multi-paneled photographic works often carry social and political messages.
* Controversy and provocation Gilbert and George court controversy, addressing contentious subjects that evoke strong reactions.1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do Gilbert & George use photography and performance in their art?
Gilbert & George, British artists Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore, use photography and performance art to challenge conventional artistic boundaries.
Initially, they presented themselves as "living sculptures," blurring their life and art through live performances like The Singing Sculpture (1969), where they covered their faces in bronze powder and moved robotically to a recording.
Later, they shifted to large, multi-paneled photographic works, often incorporating themselves in their signature business attire. They would dye their black-and-white photos with bold colors, creating pieces resembling modern stained glass. Their art often carries a social and political tone, sometimes controversial, provoking reactions ranging from laughter to outrage.
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How have Gilbert & George influenced British contemporary art?
As British artists, Gilbert & George challenged conventional methods taught at St. Martinās School of Art, blurring the lines between their life and art. By 1969, they presented themselves as "living sculptures," impacting postwar British conceptual art through live performances like The Singing Sculpture (1969).
Their large-scale photographic works, often hand-dyed with bold colors, tackled social and political themes, further influencing contemporary art. Exhibitions at major institutions like the Tate Modern and Serpentine Gallery have solidified their status and influence. Gilbert & George's boundary-pushing work continues to provoke and inspire, solidifying their important position in British contemporary art.
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Gilbert & George, British collaborative team made up of Gilbert Proesch (b. September 17, 1943, Dolomites, Italy) and George Passmore (b. January 8, 1942, Plymouth, Devon, England), whose dynamic and often humorous insertion of themselves into their art proved an important chapter in postwar British conceptual art.
After some earlier training (Gilbert at the Munich Academy, George at the Art School in Oxford), the two artists met in 1967 as students at St. Martinās School of Art in London. In a challenge to the methods taught at St. Martinās, they began to blur the distinction between their ārealā life and their artistic life. By 1969 they were presenting themselves as living sculptures. In a series of live performances, such as The Singing Sculpture (1969), Gilbert & George appeared dressed in business suits with their faces covered in bronze powder, and, using staccato and puppetlike gestures, they sang and moved to the accompaniment of a recording of the Depression-era song āUnderneath the Arches.ā They also began producing a number of videos, such as A Portrait of the Artists as Young Men (1970) and Gordonās Makes Us Drunk (1972), in which they drank gin, smoked cigarettes, repeated particular phrases, moved about slowly, and so on. With these irreverent and insouciant activities as well as their later artistic endeavours, Gilbert & George sought to questionāamong other thingsāthe fetishization of the art object. They claimed their entire lives as art.
After creating a series of large charcoal drawings (c. 1970ā75), Gilbert & George began to focus their efforts on making large multi-paneled photographic works that took on an increasingly social and political tone. Each of these works contains images of the artists, almost always dressed in their signature business attire, combined with many other images. Gilbert & George also dyed some of their black-and-white photographs with bold colours, creating an overall effect somewhat like modern stained glass in several of their pictorial assemblages. In Attacked (1991) the artists seem both stoic and vulnerable: they are depicted standing at attention in bright red suits, assaulted by flying symbols. Their later work was often controversial in subject matter, sometimes offensive and at other times, according to some critics, verging on pornographic. Into the 21st century they continued to provoke both laughter and outrage. Indeed, during the COVID-19 pandemic, while many were posting signs with words of solidarity and hope in their windows, the duo offered downloadable posters with the wry slogan āGilbert & George say: Donāt catch it!ā (2020).
Gilbert & Georgeās work was exhibited internationally, in such institutions as the Pompidou Centre (1982), Paris; the Guggenheim Museum (1985), New York City; the Stedelijk Museum (1996), Amsterdam; and the Serpentine Gallery (2002), London. A retrospective of their work (āMajor Exhibition,ā 2007ā09) originated at the Tate Modern, London, and then traveled to Haus der Kunst, Munich; the de Young Museum, San Francisco; and the Brooklyn Museum, New York City.