April 27, 2008...7:55 am
We met in London last year
‘We met in London last year’ is the title of a quote on the wall of the deYoung gallery in San Francisco by Gilbert and George, British artists and the deYoung’s latest exhibition. The quote reads…
We began to dream of a world of beauty and happiness of great riches and pleasures new of joy and laughter of children and sweets of the music of color and the sweetness of shape, a world of feeling and meaning a newer better world, a world of delicious disasters of heartrending sorrow, of loathing and dread a world complete, all the world an art gallery.
-Gilbert and George, 1969
It was an amazing show. Especially interesting was how their work has changed from the 70s until now. The colors, the motifs, and the materiality of their work reflect their era, from photographs of themselves as young kids in the pub, and questions like- “Are you Angry or are you Boring?” to bright, enamel panels showing them as middle-aged men obsessed with the big themes of life- death, life, sex, war.
Gilbert and George are performance artists who work exclusively together and identify themselves as living sculptures. They push the boundaries of our understanding of how we conceive of life and art diverging. Of course, it is a strange thing to turn yourself into a piece of art and live every moment as an interpretation of reality. But I get it. It’s brave and safe all at the same time. ‘Being art’ (instead of just making art) means you get to view life through a lens. Constantly theorizing and constantly evaluating means that you don’t really have to plunge yourself into the nitty gritty of broken hearts, disappointments, and overwhelming joy. Life is a little easier– when we see it on a wall.
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