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right nowiconsportraitbyharolddavid
Wordsbynigelbartlett
Imperfect gentlemen
Beneath Gilbert and George’s flawless manners lies a subversive streak.
They’re a pair of very upstanding-looking
gentlemen,butGilbertandGeorgefreelyadmitthey
arequiteodd.AndwhilethegrandoldmenofBritish
artdressimmaculately,alwaysinimpeccablesuits,
theirartissubversive,dealingwithsuchsubjectsas
religion,sex,moneyandrace.Yetdespitegivingtheir
earlyworkstitleslikeGeorgetheC**tandGilbertthe
S**t,theyclaimnottobedeliberatelyprovocative.
“Weonlyspeakthetruthasweseeit,”saysGeorge
Passmore, who finds mainstream communication
far more controversial. “We think the news on
television is very provocative, showing dead bodies
floating down rivers … ‘And now over to the sport!’”
WhenBellemeetstheminSydney,thepartners
in art and life, now in their late 60s, are far from
provocative. On the contrary, they are extremely
courteous and also very funny, living up to their
imageastheMorecambeandWiseoftheartworld.
The first time they came to Australia was in
1973,whentheyperformedtheirworkTheSinging
Sculpture as part of the Kaldor Public Art Project,
turning around slowly to the Flanagan and Allen
songUnderneaththeArches.Theydidthisforfive
hours a day for 11 days in Sydney and Melbourne.
How did they sustain such a performance? “If you
want to do it, you do it,” says George.
“PeoplethinkwepractisedortookZenBuddhism
classes, but we didn’t.”
“It was even harder when we did it New York
in1970,becausealltheseartiststookusoutdrinking
every single night,” adds Gilbert Proesch. “Yes, we
wenttothefilthiestclubsever,”recallsGeorgefondly.
Sincethentheirarthasevolvedtobecomehuge
photo-based images, often featuring Gilbert and
George themselves with pictures they’ve taken on
their daily walks around Spitalfields, East London.
They’ve lived in the same house there since they
were students at St Martins School of Art in the 60s,
and have witnessed enormous change in the area.

2. 58
right nowicons
Portraitbyharolddavid
“The tobacconist back then didn’t like us,” says George. “Nobody liked
students. They thought we were spongers who had too much sex – which
was entirely true, but that shouldn’t have been any of their business.” Now
highlyfashionable,theareahasseenaninfluxofmoneyedprofessionals,as
wellasotherhigh-profileartists,includingTraceyEmin,wholivesinthesame
streetasGilbertandGeorge(seepage202).Aretheygoodfriendswithher?
“No,wesaygoodmorningbutwemadeabigdecisionyearsagonotto
becomefriendlywithotherartists,”saysItalian-bornGilbert.“Wedon’tlike
theideaofdiscussingartwithartists.Wecallitbrainpollution.Artisbased
on life, not what other artists think or like. It was a very good decision.”
“The whole conversation was about art prices, gallery gossip and
who’s shagging who,” says George. “It’s just not our world. We’d prefer to
readanEdwardiannovelthanspendtheeveningwithnonsenselikethat.”
In the same way that their neighbourhood has changed, digital
photography has seen their production methods change as well. “The
dark-roomsystemwasphysicallyexhausting,becausewehadtogoupand
downladders,pinningthingsup,takingthemdown,”saysGeorge.“Itwas
suchastruggle.Welivedindarknessforeighthoursadayandhadtocome
down to the studio at 3.30am to change the chemicals. Then we changed
overtothenewtechnology,andnowallwehavetodoissitthere.”
Still,it’snotalifeoftotaleaseforthecouple,whotiedtheknotwitha
civilpartnershipceremonyin2008.Theysaythey’llneverretireasartistsand
areproudofthefactthattheyworkfrom7.30amto5pmmostdays,almost
entirely without help apart from “a half-assistant, a Chinese gentleman”.
“Everything creative we are doing all ourselves from the beginning to
the end – that is very important for us,” says Gilbert. “Every invitation card,
every installation of a show or museum exhibition. And the catalogues are
nearly all done by us as well. That way we don’t have to tell anybody off.”
Havingexhibitedallovertheworld,thepinnacleoftheircareertodate
wasahugeretrospectiveatLondon’sTateModernin2007.“Themuseum
claimedithadnointentionofshowingamajorexhibitionbyaBritishartist,
whichdroveusabsolutelymad,”saysGeorge.“Wethoughtthatwasracist
andwrong,andthattheyshouldrenamethemuseumtheTateForeign.”
Still,theygottheirway.Theywerewarnedtoexpectamoodslumpafter
theretrospective,butthereversehappened.“Wejustwokeupandstarted
onallthesenewpictures,”saysGeorge.“Itwaslikesomebodywasmaking
usdoit.”Theymade153picturesthatformedlastyear’sJackFreakPictures
show,andthey’renowworkingonmore.“Forthefirsttimewe’redoingwhat
wecallTheLondonPictures–Idon’tknowwhyittookussolong.Veryodd.”
Itisodd,whenyouconsidertheyonlytakephotosinLondon–theyrarely
do so while travelling. “We never feel we have to go to exotic places to be
inspired,” Gilbert says. “We think life is the same all over the world.”
Andtheirartist-as-observerattitudeseemstoevaporatewhentravelling,
asGeorgeexplains.“Ifwecomeoutofourhouseinthemorningandthere’s
vomit on the pavement, we’re fascinated,” he says. “But if we saw it here in
Sydney we’d say, ‘How disgusting! There’s vomit all over the place’.”
LEFT George Passmore and
GilbertProeschattheArtGallery
ofNSW,infrontofaprojectionof
their1973TheSingingSculpture
performance. RIGHT They made
and signed valentine cards
to mark their return to Sydney.
BELOWChristianEngland,from
theirJackFreakPicturesshow.