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The World of Gilbert & George, directors Gilbert & George 1981: Living Sculptures ... ‘We like very much to be drunk’. Great Artists in Their Own Words III: But is it Art? 1976-1993. Equivalent VIII, Gilbert & George, BBC 2013
Like modern-day Hogarth, Gilbert and George held up a mirror to 1970s Britain ... Their slogan was Art For All. Janet Street-Porter, The Genius of British Art: Modern Times, BBC 2010
Being invited into the home of two ‘living sculptures’ is a rather unnerving prospect. So much has been said about Gilbert and George’s eccentricities, their odd routines, the way they repeat gnomic riddles, and how they are never seen without each other. And yet the two gentlemen who welcome me into their house in Spitalfields, London, are so polite and normal, such easy and delightful company, it’s hard not to feel a bit nonplussed.
The two artists are preparing for the London opening of their latest show, Jack Freak Pictures, a series of works about England, nationhood and nationality.
‘The Jack Freak series deals with all aspects of Britishness as symbolised by the British flag; it means so many different things to so many,’ says George, 67. ‘It brings out the best – and the worst – in people.’ The Telegraph online article Anna van Praagh 5th July 2009, ‘Gilbert & George: Margaret Thatcher Did a Lot for Art’
St Martin’s: ‘We felt that we were part of an elite group, the centre of the universe of modern sculpture.’ Tim Marlow with Gilbert & George, Gilbert
‘We are the vision. We are the sculptures walking through life.’ ibid. George
The spooky world of Gilbert & George. This Morecambe and Wise of existentialism, alienated middle-aged visionary gay guys imitating repressed 1930s bank managers who call themselves living sculptures and who have made their nutty image permanently identifiable with the sites and atmosphere of London’s East End began their act 30 years ago. Matthew Collings, This is Modern Art II: Shock! Horror! Channel 4 1998
Gilbert & George chose annoyance as their main material. They had real lives before but from now on they would always be artificial – because it was more real. Their whole lives would be art even when they were drunk which was every day on gin. Everything they did they called a sculpture. Sculpture included singing or falling over but also taking photographs and writing and making up slogans. ibid.
This is a party for the artists Gilbert & George whose major retrospective opened earlier in the evening at Tate Modern. This church is at the end of the very street where Gilbert & George have lived since the late 1960s. Alan Yentob, Imagine … Gilbert & George: No Surrender, BBC 2007
Gilbert & George first met as students at St Martin’s School of Art in 1967. Two years later they began appearing in public together as living sculptures. ibid.
A vast body of work. ibid.
Gilbert & George also took to drinking heavily in the early ’70s. ibid.
America was intrigued: in 1974 they were invited to New York for a marathon performance of Underneath the Arches. ibid.