A portrait of art duo Gilbert & George with insights into their
artistic practice that explores the moods and feelings of a fast,
volatile urban world
Gilbert & George met at St Martin's School of Art in September 1967.
Fifty years later, Michael Bracewell has worked with them on this
beautifully designed primer, posing the question What Is Gilbert &
George? Over the course of 37 short chapters, Bracewell--who has
written extensively about Gilbert & George over many years--has created
an accessible handbook to their work.
Accompanied by illustrations selected by the artists, the book provides
candid insights into their working practice, East London, sex, Victorian
art, nationalism and maleness, among many other subjects. We may never
find the answer to the question What Is Gilbert & George?, but this
book, marking their halfcentury partnership, brings us closer than ever
before.
Gilbert was born in Italy in 1943; George was born in the UK in
1942; both live and work in London. They have had extensive solo
exhibitions, including at the Whitechapel Gallery (1971-72), Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam (1995-96), Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
(1997), Serpentine Gallery, London (2002), Kunsthaus Bregenz (2002),
Tate Modern, London, Haus der Kunst, Munich (both 2007), Brooklyn Museum
of Art, New York, and Philadelphia Museum of Art (both 2008). Novelist
and cultural commentator Michael Bracewell (born 1958) first saw the
art of Gilbert & George in 1977. He met the artists 20 years later, and
has since written extensively about their art and interviewed them many
times. His recent publications have included essays on the art of
Bridget Riley and Richard Hamilton, as well as the books When Surface
Was Depth and Roxy Music.
