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Gilbert & George
The Daily Telegraph heralds Gilbert & George as the “Godfathers of British contemporary art”. Over the last three decades, their humorous, taboo-breaking works have risen to iconic status in the… Read more
Intro Bio Exhibitions
Background Information about Gilbert & George
Introduction
The Daily Telegraph heralds Gilbert & George as the “Godfathers of British contemporary art”. Over the last three decades, their humorous, taboo-breaking works have risen to iconic status in the art world.
Gilbert & George became world-famous for turning their own appearance into a work of art. In their photographic work and performances, they combine art and life, artist and viewer.
In 1967, Gilbert Proesch, a South Tyrolean, met George Passmore, a Briton, at St. Martins School of Art in London. For their first collaborative art project, they painted themselves gold, got on a table and repeatedly sang “Underneath the Arches”. Since then, it has been impossible to imagine the art world without these two – no longer using their last names – as “Living Sculptures”. In 1986, they were awarded the renowned Turner Prize. In 2007, the Tate Modern honoured them with a retrospective: the largest solo show to date in the gallery on the Thames. At auction, their work now fetches six figures.
Since the early 80s, their montages have been marked by the use of luminous, glaring colours. The edition “Gingko Wingko” abounds with bright, colourful elements and depicts the artists in their customary bespoke suits. They are continually reinventing the way they play with symbolism and more striking elements. As stiff as their poses are, as rigidly as their gaze is fixed upon the viewer – that is also the extent to which their grimaces celebrate the chaos of daily life.
In 2005, the piece “Gingko Wingko” made its debut at the 51st Venice Biennial, where Gilbert & George represented Great Britain in the international art exhibition.
Gilbert & George became world-famous for turning their own appearance into a work of art. In their photographic work and performances, they combine art and life, artist and viewer.
In 1967, Gilbert Proesch, a South Tyrolean, met George Passmore, a Briton, at St. Martins School of Art in London. For their first collaborative art project, they painted themselves gold, got on a table and repeatedly sang “Underneath the Arches”. Since then, it has been impossible to imagine the art world without these two – no longer using their last names – as “Living Sculptures”. In 1986, they were awarded the renowned Turner Prize. In 2007, the Tate Modern honoured them with a retrospective: the largest solo show to date in the gallery on the Thames. At auction, their work now fetches six figures.
Since the early 80s, their montages have been marked by the use of luminous, glaring colours. The edition “Gingko Wingko” abounds with bright, colourful elements and depicts the artists in their customary bespoke suits. They are continually reinventing the way they play with symbolism and more striking elements. As stiff as their poses are, as rigidly as their gaze is fixed upon the viewer – that is also the extent to which their grimaces celebrate the chaos of daily life.
In 2005, the piece “Gingko Wingko” made its debut at the 51st Venice Biennial, where Gilbert & George represented Great Britain in the international art exhibition.
Bio
Gilbert Prousch | |
1943 | Born in San Martin de Tor, Italy |
Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany | |
Studied Sculpture under Anthony Caro at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London, UK | |
Lives and works in London, UK | |
George Passmore | |
1942 | Born in Plymouth, UK |
Studied at Dartington College of Arts and at the Oxford School of Arts, UK | |
Studied Sculpture under Anthony Caro at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London, UK | |
Lives and works in London, UK |
Awards
2007 | South Bank Award |
1986 | Turner Prize |
Collections
Museum of Modern Art, New York City | |
Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent | |
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam | |
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao | |
National Portrait Gallery, London | |
Tate Britain, London | |
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City | |
Museum Ludwig, Cologne |
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2014 | Gilbert & George: Scapegoating – Pictures for London, White Cube, London, UK |
2013 | London Pictures, Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany |
2012 | Gilbert & George – London Pictures, White Cube Hoxton Square, London, UK |
2011 | Jack Freak Pictures, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany |
Gilbert & George: Postcard Sculptures, Robert Miller Gallery, New York City, USA | |
2010 | Jack Freak Pictures, BOZAR Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium |
2009 | Gilbert & George, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France |
2008 | Gilbert & George, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City, USA |
Notations: Gilbert & George, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA | |
2007 | Gilbert & George – Die Retrospektive, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany |
Gilbert & George, Tate Modern, London, UK | |
2005 | Gilbert & George, Kestnergesellschaft Hanover, Germany |
2002 | Gilbert & George, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria |
2001 | Gilbert & George – Nineteen Ninety Nine, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA |
1996 | Gilbert & George, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, USA |
1994 | Gilbert & George - Shitty Naked Human World und Andere Bilder, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany |
1987 | Gilbert & George – The Complete Pictures 1971 – 1985, Hayward Gallery, London, UK |
1985 | Gilbert & George, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, USA |
1981 | Gilbert & George, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK |
Gilbert & George, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France | |
1976 | Gilbert & George, ICA, London, UK |
1971 | The Paintings of Gilbert & George the Human Sculptors, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Group Exhibitions
2014 | Lens-Based Sculpture: The Transformation of Sculpture through Photography, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein |
2013 | Glam! The Performance of Style, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany |
Body Pressure – Skulptur seit den 1960er Jahren, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany | |
2012 | Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA |
Tresholds, Tate Liverpool, UK | |
Materializing “Six Years”: Lucy R. Lippard and the Emergence of Conceptual Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art New York City, USA | |
Artandpress, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany | |
2009 | Play Van Abbe – Part 1 – The Game and the Players, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands |
In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art 1960-1976, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA | |
2008 | Manifesto Marathon, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK |
Here Is Every – Four Decades of Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA | |
2007 | Multiplex: Directions in Art – 1970 to Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA |
The Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Tate Britain, London, UK | |
What Does the Jellyfish Want? Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany | |
2006 | Eyes on Europe, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA |
2005 | Big Bang, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France |
La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy | |
2004 | Head to Head, Tate Modern, London, UK |
Turning Points – 20th Century British Sculpture, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran | |
2002 | Public Affairs, Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland |
Tableaux Vivants, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria | |
2001 | Hypermental – Wahnhafte Wirklichkeit 1950 – 2000, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany |
2000 | Seeing Time, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany |
1999 | Out of Actions, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan |
1998 | Contemporary British Artists, Denver Art Museum, USA |
1997 | Old Friends Inside and Outside the Museum, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands |
1991 | Metrolopis, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany |
1986 | The Mirror and the Lamp, ICA, London, UK |
1982 | Documenta 7, Kassel, Germany |
1978 | La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy |
1977 | Documenta 6, Kassel, Germany |
1972 | Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany |
1970 | Information, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA |
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