In 1970, when Gilbert and George were students, they made singing sculptures of themselves and exhibited them at the Nigel Greenwood Gallery. In this performance, they wrapped their heads and hands in multi-colored gold-plated powder, stood on a table and sang Flanagan and Allen's song "Underneath the Arches". Sometimes once a day. The song describes the joys of two vagabonds sleeping rough. They want to return to the traditional opera of pre-war England, but at the same time identify with the fringe of society. Gilbert and George were invited to perform singing sculptures all over the world, sometimes for eight hours at a time. The suits they wore later became their uniforms, which they wore almost exclusively on public ****ing occasions. And they rarely appeared alone without each other. They saw themselves as "living sculptures" and insisted that everything they did was art, and they were adamantly opposed to taking art out of their lives. At the same time, they realized that they could only reach a small number of people with each performance, so they began to develop the idea of producing images and videos that would perpetuate their living sculpture art form without the need for them to perform in person.
They argue that "almost all artists focus on their art, which is actually a huge mistake." An extraordinary argument indeed, and for years they viewed art with great indifference. When they finally decided to use performance as a means of creation, they referred to themselves as "living sculptures", claiming that everything was a creation and that "we are art". Following the principle of "art for all", they wear old-fashioned dresses and gesture indifferently. The hope is to establish an intimate, clear and unconditional relationship with the public, allowing art to speak directly to the audience, so that art can have an impact on society and people. (Intellectual Depression)
Painting, 1980, mixed media, 242 x 202 cm
This is perhaps one of the most prominent paintings of Gilbert and George's metaphors of darkness, monstrous growth, and a running view of death and decline. On a heavy yellow background is the black silhouette of a leafless tree that seems to reach out to the sky with twisted branching claws. The tree, which is featured in close-up, grows in London's Finsbury Circus and was a gift from the Japanese government as reparations after the Second World War. A crude sign on the tree details its history, though the tree and sign were removed shortly after Gilbert and George painted it. This contrasts with several related studies from the same time period and the hasty work of some artists expressing life and vitality.
During the 1970s, the artist's work was characterized by bitterness and a gradual shift towards darker themes of repression, alcohol and madness, drawing themes from an earlier painting, Branch (1978). In Branch, a simple outline of a bare tree branch appears on a red background above the artist's head.
However, as this theme developed, the artist's colors became rich. Gilbert and George stepped away from the black-and-white monochromatic images and began to develop a method of utilizing deep red. 1980, known as the year of the depression, was the first year they used yellow in the related work Waiting. The depth and richness of these colors (painted in dark grids) create the effect of stained glass windows. As Suzanne Pagé notes, "Gilbert and George, like medieval artists, created images to be understood and interpreted." We can imagine that the message of this work is a warning.
Many of the 1980 paintings dealt with an aesthetic view of living in fear, where the use of yellow and black could be off-putting, reminiscent of danger signs. For these prescient artists, who foresaw fear-filled times to come, this early painting tells us that such fearful environments can have a clamping effect on the spirit on the soul. (Jack Freak Pictures)
"Jack" is a naval term for the flag that flies on the bow of a ship. All British warships fly the national flag on their bows, which is often called "the Union Jack" (the Union Jack), in addition to the common name "the beige flag". The abstract geometric shape of the British flag and its political, cultural and social connotations became the basis of the new series. Dancing, disguising, howling, watching, waiting, distorting or disintegrating their bodies - even against the backdrop of the solemn flag - the duo's tongue-in-cheek humor and "weirdness" are evident. In addition to their signature artistic language of mosaics and mirrored compositions, Gilbert and Georges continue their journey through the past and present through new elements such as medals, maps, logos, flags, graffiti, and even branches and leaves, to express their tireless questioning and reflection on human issues such as religion, identity, politics and economics, gender, and death.
The inspiration for their work comes from the East End of London, once known as the "slums" of the city, which has seen a rise in creative industries and Olympic venues in recent years, but for Gilbert and George, who have lived here for over forty years, it's a place that has been a source of inspiration for many of the city's longest-standing residents. For Gilbert and George, the East End of London is their muse. "There's nothing that happens in the rest of the world that doesn't happen in the East End," says George. For the duo, the East End, with its variety of people and things, is a living work in itself and a sanctuary to test their artistic principles. Gilbert says, "We never want to create obscure work, although that's what most artists think. We are with the general public, not against it, and we don't make art for art's sake, we just live, feel and think art."
Gilbert & George
Francois Jonquet (author)
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Language: English
Publication date: April 1, 2005
Pages: 360
ISBN: 0714844357
Dimensions and Weight: 24.8 x 20.1 x 3.3 cm ; 1.5 Kg