Gilbert and George

by Daniel Farson

The candid, revealing inside story of one of the great and most original art acts of our the enigmatic living sculptures based in Spitalfields in Londons East End.Gilbert and George are unquestionably among the most important and original artists of our time. Critics have come to recognise the artists vision and to regard some of their works as among the major pictures of the century.Gilbert (from the Italian Dolomites) and George (from Totnes) met at St Martins School of Art in the late 1960s and formed an immediate friendship. This is an engagingly informal portrait in which they reminisce about their family upbringing, their friendship, life in Spitalfields, and their relish of the mixed cultures of the East End. With their distinctive trademark single-breasted, three-button suits and their famously studied but courteous composure, Gilbert and George set out as artists without a gallery. From living, and singing, sculptures, they developed a line in controversial subject matter that extends from the Dirty Words Pictures to The Naked Shit and The Fundamental pictures. As exponents of photo-based art, they are, as writer David Sylvester has remarked, perhaps second only to Andy Warhol.

Genres: Art

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[David Corvine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by professional Soho-ite and heavy drinker now departed for the Colony Room in the shy. On the plus side he was a friend of the Gilbert & George and was, what might be referred to as, an embedded journalist accompanying them to several major international exhibitions. Slight downside is that there's a lot about the author and not so much about the subject(s).