Gilbert & George (b. 1943, San Martin de Tor, Italy & 1942, Plymouth, United Kingdom) met in 1967 in art school at Saint Martin’s, where they first developed their signature form of “living sculptures” by walking around the streets of London, their heads and hands coated with multi-color metallic powders. Since then, they have been living and working together, their individual identities subsumed into a vision of animate sculpture, becoming representations of the universal human condition, a central theme in their work. Their embrace of video technology, along with their well-known photo-collage works, allowed Gilbert & George to extend their living sculptures beyond a particular time and place and broadcast their art to wider audiences, establishing their motto of “art for all.”
Shortly after art school, they moved to London’s East End, then a bustling immigrant and working-class neighborhood, which has served as their home and studio for almost 50 years. Their changing neighborhood, which has become a gentrified creative center, has significantly influenced their work. The artists often appear in their work as witnesses to life unfolding in the sociopolitical and urban conditions of this area. Through imagery specific to London and the East End in particular, Gilbert & George create an ongoing portrait of the city that includes street signs, ginkgo trees, graffiti, postering, and gum-stained sidewalks.
Gilbert & George received their BFAs at the Munich Academy of Art, Germany, and Oxford Art School, England, respectively and received their MFAs from Saint Martin’s School of Art in London. Recent solo exhibitions of their work have been organized at The Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary (2017); Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Australia (2016); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015); Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (2014); Diechtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany (2011); the Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Poland (2011) the Kröller-Müller Museum, the Netherlands (2010); the de Young museum, San Francisco (2008), Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee (2008), the Brooklyn Museum, New York (2008); and Tate Modern, London (2007). Select group exhibitions featuring their work include The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2017, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2017); Take Me (I’m Yours), Jewish Museum, New York (2016); A Journey Through London Subculture: 1980s to Now, ICA London (2013); Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012); ARTandPRESS, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2012); The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture 1839 to today, Kunsthaus Zurich (2011); BP British Art Displays 1500- 2009, Tate Britain, London (2009); and Passports: Great Early Buys from the British Council Collection, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2009). Their work is in numerous international public and private collections, including Art Institute of Chicago; Cleveland Museum of Art, OH; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland; Istanbul Modern, Turkey; Magasin III, Stockholm, Sweden; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Tate Gallery, London.
Gilbert & George have received honorary Doctorates of Art from Plymouth University, United Kingdom (2013); Open University, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom (2012); University of East London (2010); and London Metropolitan University (2008). They have received numerous awards, including the South Bank Award, London, and The Lorenzo il Magnifico Award, Florence, in 2007; the Special International Award, Los Angeles, in 1989, and most notably, the Turner Prize, United Kingdom, in 1986.
吉爾伯特與喬治(1943和1942年生於意大利和英國)早於1967年在倫敦的聖馬丁學院認識後便開始在藝術上的合作。他們在學生時代創造了「活雕塑」的概念,把自己的頭和手塗上彩色的金屬粉後穿梭於倫敦的大街和公園。後來他們在紐約、日本、歐洲和澳洲等世界各地的畫廊與博物館發表了這個抽象的雕塑概念。吉爾伯特與喬治的作品意念是把藝術品、藝術家和觀者之間的距離拉近,而他們最後把自己的身份融入這個「活雕塑」,成功地代表了人類的普遍狀況。吉爾伯特與喬治利用視像技術和相片拼貼的技巧來展示他們的作品,令更多觀眾能看到「活雕像」。於2005年,吉爾伯特與喬治代表英國參加威尼斯雙年展。吉爾伯特與喬治目前於英國倫敦居住及從事藝術創作。
他們在畢業後搬到了倫敦的東區,並在該處居住和創作了接近五十年。期間,倫敦的東區由一個忙碌的移民和工人階級社區士紳化成一個創意中心,而這種變化也影響了他們的創作。吉爾伯特與喬治在他們的作品中加入街道標志、銀杏樹、塗鴉、海報和人行道,用以表現這個城市和社區的社會政治及居住環境。
吉爾伯特與喬治曾在多個博物館和美術館舉辦個人展覽,包括匈牙利路德維希現代藝術博物館(2017年)、澳洲塔斯馬尼亞新舊藝術博物館(2016年)、美國紐約現代藝術博物館(2015年)、摩納哥國立新時代博物館(2014年)、德國漢堡堤壩之門美術館(2011年)、波蘭格但斯克拉茲奈當代藝術中心(2011年)、荷蘭奧特洛克勒勒-米勒博物館(2010年)、美國三藩市笛洋美術館(2008年)、美國密爾沃基藝術博物館(2008年)、美國紐約布魯克林博物館(2008年)及英國倫敦泰特美術館(2007年)。他們也曾參與多個群體展覽,包括英國倫敦皇家藝術學院的「The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2017」(2017年)、美國紐約猶太博物館的「Take Me (I’m Yours)」(2016年)、英國倫敦當代藝術學院的「A Journey Through London Subculture: 1980s to Now」(2013年)、美國紐約大都會藝術博物館的「Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years」(2012年)、馬丁-格羅皮烏斯博物館的「ARTandPRESS」(2012年)、瑞士蘇黎世美術館的「The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture 1839 to today」(2011年)、英國倫敦泰特美術館的「BP British Art Displays 1500- 2009」(2009年)及英國倫敦白教堂美術館的「Passports: Great Early Buys from the British Council Collection」(2009年)。其作品可見於多個國際公營以及私人收藏,包括美國芝加哥藝術學院、美國克利夫蘭美術館、西班牙畢爾包古根漢美術館、愛爾蘭都柏林愛爾蘭現代藝術博物館、伊斯坦堡現代美術館、瑞典斯德哥爾摩Magasin 3藝術館、美國紐約大都會藝術博物館、德國科隆路德維希博物館、美國洛杉磯現代美術館、澳大利亞悉尼當代美術館、美國紐約現代藝術博物館、美國紐約所羅門·古根漢美術館、荷蘭阿姆斯特丹市立博物館和英國倫敦泰特美術館。
吉爾伯特與喬治先後於不同的學校獲頒榮譽藝術博士學位,包括英國普利茅斯大學(2013年)、英國公開大學(2012年)、英國東倫敦大學及英國倫敦都市大學。他們亦獲頒多個獎項,包括倫敦的「South Bank Award」(2007年)、佛羅倫薩的「The Lorenzo il Magnifico Award」(2007年)、洛杉磯的「Special International Award」(1989年)、還有英國享負盛名的「Turner Prize」(1986年)。