The NEW NORMAL PICTURES suggest that the X-Ray Spex song ‘The Day The World Turned Day-Glo’ has come to life! Everywhere is dark yet too bright and tonal contrasts go to war with one another. In streets, alleys and vistas, the unreal city seems to rearrange time and tenses, accelerating the slow and stalling the immediate. The overlooked and thrown away reacquires visibility and meaning. The usual hierarchies reverse; discard dominates.
Fully-illustrated and signed catalogue made to accompany the 2021 NEW NORMAL PICTURES exhibition at White Cube Mason’s Yard, London. With an essay by writer and novelist Michael Bracewell and full colour plates of all 33 works in the exhibition.
76pp text with 4pp softback cover.
245 x 300mm (landscape).
Gilbert & George began creating art together in 1967 when they met at St Martins School of Art, and from the beginning, in their films and ‘LIVING SCULPTURE’ they appeared as figures in their own art. The artists believe that everything is potential subject matter for their art, and they have always addressed social issues, taboos and artistic conventions. Implicit in their art is the idea that an artist’s sacrifice and personal investment is a necessary condition of art. They have depicted themselves as naked figures in their own pictures, recasting the male nude as something vulnerable and fragile rather than as a potent figure of strength. The backdrop and inspiration for much of their art is the East End of London where Gilbert & George have lived and created art for nearly 50 years. From street signs to Ginkgo trees, from chewing gum stains on the pavements to vistas of urban grandeur and decay, their work is both an ongoing portrait of a city and a reflection on the human condition. Gilbert & George have confronted many of the fundamental issues of existence: sex, religion, corruption, violence, hope, fear, racial tension, patriotism, addiction and death.
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