Gilbert & George

The Daily Telegraph heralds Gilbert & George as the “Godfathers of British contemporary art”. Over the last three decades, their humorous, taboo-breaking works have risen to iconic status in the art world.

Gilbert & George became world-famous for turning their own appearance into a work of art. In their photographic work and performances, they combine art and life, artist and viewer.

In 1967, Gilbert Proesch, a South Tyrolean, met George Passmore, a Briton, at St. Martins School of Art in London. For their first collaborative art project, they painted themselves gold, got on a table and repeatedly sang “Underneath the Arches”. Since then, it has been impossible to imagine the art world without these two – no longer using their last names – as “Living Sculptures”. In 1986, they were awarded the renowned Turner Prize. In 2007, the Tate Modern honoured them with a retrospective: the largest solo show to date in the gallery on the Thames. At auction, their work now fetches six figures.

Since the early 80s, their montages have been marked by the use of luminous, glaring colours. The edition “Gingko Wingko” abounds with bright, colourful elements and depicts the artists in their customary bespoke suits. They are continually reinventing the way they play with symbolism and more striking elements. As stiff as their poses are, as rigidly as their gaze is fixed upon the viewer – that is also the extent to which their grimaces celebrate the chaos of daily life.

In 2005, the piece “Gingko Wingko” made its debut at the 51st Venice Biennial, where Gilbert & George represented Great Britain in the international art exhibition.

Solo Exhibitions

2014	Gilbert & George: Scapegoating – Pictures for London, White Cube, London, UK
2013	London Pictures, Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany
2012	Gilbert & George – London Pictures, White Cube Hoxton Square, London, UK
2011	Jack Freak Pictures, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
	Gilbert & George: Postcard Sculptures, Robert Miller Gallery, New York City, USA
2010	Jack Freak Pictures, BOZAR Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
2009	Gilbert & George, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2008	Gilbert & George, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City, USA
	Notations: Gilbert & George, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA
2007	Gilbert & George – Die Retrospektive, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
	Gilbert & George, Tate Modern, London, UK
2005	Gilbert & George, Kestnergesellschaft Hanover, Germany
2002	Gilbert & George, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria
2001	Gilbert & George – Nineteen Ninety Nine, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
1996	Gilbert & George, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, USA
1994	Gilbert & George - Shitty Naked Human World und Andere Bilder, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
1987	Gilbert & George – The Complete Pictures 1971 – 1985, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
1985	Gilbert & George, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, USA
1981	Gilbert & George, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
	Gilbert & George, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
1976	Gilbert & George, ICA, London, UK
1971	The Paintings of Gilbert & George the Human Sculptors, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Group Exhibitions

2014	Lens-Based Sculpture: The Transformation of Sculpture through Photography, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein
2013	Glam! The Performance of Style, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
	Body Pressure – Skulptur seit den 1960er Jahren, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
2012	Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA
	Tresholds, Tate Liverpool, UK
	Materializing “Six Years”: Lucy R. Lippard and the Emergence of Conceptual Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art New York City, USA
	Artandpress, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
2009	Play Van Abbe – Part 1 – The Game and the Players, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
	In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art 1960-1976, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA
2008	Manifesto Marathon, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
	Here Is Every – Four Decades of Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA
2007	Multiplex: Directions in Art – 1970 to Now, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA
	The Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Tate Britain, London, UK
	What Does the Jellyfish Want? Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
2006	Eyes on Europe, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA
2005	Big Bang, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
	La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
2004	Head to Head, Tate Modern, London, UK
	Turning Points – 20th Century British Sculpture, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran
2002	Public Affairs, Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland
	Tableaux Vivants, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
2001	Hypermental – Wahnhafte Wirklichkeit 1950 – 2000, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany
2000	Seeing Time, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
1999	Out of Actions, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
1998	Contemporary British Artists, Denver Art Museum, USA
1997	Old Friends Inside and Outside the Museum, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
1991	Metrolopis, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
1986	The Mirror and the Lamp, ICA, London, UK
1982	Documenta 7, Kassel, Germany
1978	La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
1977	Documenta 6, Kassel, Germany
1972	Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany
1970	Information, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA