June 2007
Gilbert and George
“Always be smartly dressed, well-groomed, relaxed, friendly, polite, and in complete control.” That’s an unusual beginning for an artists’ manifesto, but then Gilbert and George are anything but ordinary. The dapper duo have used their bourgeois appearance to subvert social norms from within, by way of provocative and sometimes ludicrous creations in which the pair almost always feature. Whether as “living sculptures” bingeing on alcohol in bespoke suits, or naked sixty-year-olds standing quietly behind painted graffiti, they have become their art. Indeed, that was the original idea: When the two graduated from St. Martin’s, they had no money or backing, but each other. The Haus der Kunst will host “Gilbert and George: Major Exhibition,” from June 11 to September 9. The exhibition will include works from almost 40 years of their joint career: documentation of their early work as living sculptures, books, photographs, and large-format drawing installations from the 1970s. Each of these was shown at the Tate Modern this spring, but Munich art-lovers will also have the opportunity to view “There Were Two Young Men,” a six-part series of large charcoal drawings from 1971.
