Gilbert and George - Research Paper Example

Gilbert and George Introduction Images and art have the purpose of giving knowledge to the reader and have to be relevant in the contents they cover. Not all Images and art are perfect in covering the required content to the viewer as some may cover more than required while others will have insufficient content. It is from this fact that I would like to carry out a review to assess whether Images and art are relevant and have the required information that will be helpful to the audience or any interested party. Many people have an affection towards art and rely on Images and art to be the primary source of knowledge before getting explanations and subsidization from artists (Dawn 82). The pictures by artists have to be a representative of what happens in the society and the environment around, to serve as an expansion of the basic knowledge in the in the field of art. George and Gilbert are such artists who take the world stage and express their ideas using several pieces of art to communicate to the world their ideas and give knowledge about what happens in the society through arts and images. I would like to argue from the point where the two artists draw their inspiration. Drawing and painting is a professional art that involves sketching and developing images that are captivating to the target audience. Just like Gilbert and George, artists have to consider the factors that make the pictures or images of a quality standard, which can be enjoyed by the viewer. From history, the early artists, especially from the Soviet Russian states combined images and used concepts like the montage to create captivating sculptures that are liked to this day. Gilbert and George’s works are inspired by pain and unhappiness and they refer to themselves as tortured artists (Robin 76). The artists have used their pieces of work from the 1960s and for over thirty years, they have used different concepts to draw their pictures and make use of the society in illustrating their ideas, what they perceive as well as what they believe. In understanding and using pictures, I would like to argue that Gilbert and George explore various aspects of the society in explaining the structure and basic tenets of the society, the current living styles and the methods people should use to lead comfortable lives, away from the influence of societal judgments. One perfect part that Gilbert and George arts do well is explaining the various parts of human development in the society, as the classify and explains each part use. There is a clear explanation of how the parts work in the society and how art is an expression of the self. The basic point in understanding art is first to learn the structures and how the structures are interconnected to form a complex system of images, figures, sculptures and pictures that make up art (Zirpolo, 112). Gilbert and George understand the needs of art lovers and from the pictures’ content, it is definite that the artists carried out a study on identifying the specific needs of art lovers especially in collaboration of the integrated systems of the society and other life formation tactics (Boticelli 143). In my own view, the manner in which an artist approaches a piece of art or sculpture determines the rate of understanding and clarity from the viewers, which is definite to arouse a liking towards a specific piece of artwork. Gilbert and George exploit their talent in showing these aspects. We, Fall and Cunt One picture that Gilbert and George use is We. In the picture, Gilbert and George draw images of themselves standing asymmetrically on both ends of the picture as well as sited while wearing red suits. A cross on the background meets at the center with a human race, which illustrates the union between the two artists. In the artwork of We, the artists represent themselves as living sculptures. In my own understanding, their lives from the beginning when they were starting the art career were not an easy work. Through the image We, Gilbert and George display richness of content in arguing and defending themselves for the path they chose to be artists and how artwork can reflect one’s life though not completely (Ulrich 69). However, some people argue that the piece of art We together with other images are not images but sculptures and do not reflect their lives. Gilbert and George on the other hand express their piece of art as serving the purpose of influencing someone, without focusing on the past. The artists use the pictures to present various social issues. Real art does not show or reflect life but it can form the perspectives and ideologies about the future (Dunant 211). Gilbert and George in We show a prosperous future of unity. Gilbert and George are sensitive about themselves in the image and display their images in three styles. In the first style, the picture has them standing a little distance away from each other just in front of the cross. They advance and draw themselves sited closer to each other in suits. In the third style, Gilbert and George draw their faces touching each other. Through the piece of work of We and the mode of drawing themselves, I can argue that their union is only growing stronger as partners in art. The other picture is the Fall. Just like in We, the Fall has a cross in the background. The cross is colored in blue, which is one of the colors of the England flag. Gilbert and George are seen kneeling before the cross where they face each other before the cross. Leaves are falling as well, with some appearing to be falling behind the cross while some fall in front of the cross. The image is an expression of difficult times in life. In reality, I would argue that trees always shed their leaves off during the dry season in order to reduce the amount of water loss to the environment. The shedding of the leaves is what Gilbert and George referred to as the fall. Gilbert and George did not have a smooth beginning and their lives were difficult at first. This presents a fall in the life of any human being. Gilbert and George kneel before the cross as sign of humility and the humbleness, not only to themselves but also to the one they believe in to be their source of life. Kneeling before the cross is a symbol of humility and brokenness, which the two artists perfect in the piece of artwork Fall. The knees of Gilbert and George are on the ground, which signifies that, just like other normal people in the society, they too have rough times. Gilbert in one of the interviews confesses that despite that they are partners in art, and do things together, they also have their own difficult times and go through disagreements with each other (Dunant 130). According to me, they illustrate to the society and the world through art that despite their characters and behaviors, they are bound to fall because difficult times are inevitable. The other picture is Cunt. Gilbert and George use the word Cunt in an offensive manner to display what they believed in society, women and their relationships with the society. According to the picture, Gilbert and George were showing how some people in the society were unpleasant, stupid or annoying. The image features different elements of art with a man holding a stick in his hand. Gilbert and George display the man in six styles and from the way the display the man holding the stick, the man seems unpleased. The artists also include two pictures of people in a congregation. I would like to argue that this is a representation of the society, which contains the stupid, annoying and displeasing people. In the first picture, that the artists draw under Cunt has few people. The second picture features more people, a representation that the society is growing and definitely, the population of the annoying is also increasing. Gilbert and George also appear in Cunt and they draw themselves with their heads bowed down and unhappy faces. The fact that the two artists draw their pictures at the bottom of the picture signifies several aspects. I would argue that the two artists seem displeased by what is happening in the society. Their images of disappointment and sadness just appear below two picture of two cities. The cities are painted in red. Although Gilbert and George do not give a clear meaning of what Cunt means, from the price of art it is clear that the artists are displeased by what happens in the cities, which is why they pain it red. Fuck and Naked from shitty naked human world The other pictures include Fuck and Naked from shitty naked human world. Gilbert and George began to draw their pieces of art in 1969, four years after Kenneth Tynan said the word ‘fuck’ in British television for the first time. Everyone was stunned as the word was not common on media during the 19th and 20th centuries. Gilbert and George took the opportunity to explore their art and bring it to the public gallery by using such offensive terms (Robin 103). They knew that using such words that had been said before the public in the media by respectable people in the society would earn their artwork some credit. They drew up the artwork Fuck as an expression of the greater public tolerance of the expletives. Gilbert and George are a national institution and address matters in the society. Therefore, the two artists cauterized their artwork and turned them into respectable buffoons in the society with heir expression of disgust on the British state (Ulrich 93). The artists paint the character who appears in the image six times. They also show their faces and on the top of the photo, the write the word Fuck, where beneath the picture they show some sculptures of England. The photo does not speak much but it easy to tell the annoyance they had towards the British government in the way it carried out their activities during the 60s. One other picture is Naked from shitty naked human world. Gilbert and George express their emotions and thinking about the world and society. According to my own opinion, they communicate this by drawing pictures of themselves on two sides divided by what can be described as a shitty division of cocks. The cocks are drawn in terms of shit. Gilbert and George appear standing on a monument of themselves up on the air with a blue background to represent the sky. The two artists have used nature in description and drawing of the artwork (Ulrich 119). They exploit the nakedness of the world by using such concepts as the sky, the air and the trees, the picture is a representation of outdoor impressions of human and nature. From the title of the art that Gilbert and George drew, which is Naked from shitty naked human world, the artists had the intention of bringing to the attention of the society the naked truth about the society and the dirty things that happen. However, Gilbert and George had a test of sexuality in most of their pictures and as artists, but according to me; they were only expressing what they believed in about human sexuality and nature. They articulate that the Naked from shitty naked human world piece of work is call for man to return to nature and is a reference to the innate truth about nature (Tate 26). The artists argue that they view the world in different states in relation to human beings. The human being exists in different forms and this becomes the point where Gilbert and George base their arguments they argue that they look at nature for comparison with the different human states that include ripening, flowering, death and skeleton. Shitty world and Bloody shit house Shitty world and Bloody shit house are other pictures by Gilbert and George. The artists continue with heir expression of nature and human beings in the picture. The artists draw pictures of themselves naked in which they are in contact in six images and stand as single persons in only two images. Just like in the other pictures, what divides the eight pictures is a symbol of a cross but in this particular image, the use shit as a representation of the cross. They paint red on top of the picture and express their perceptions of the world as a ‘shitty world’. The pictures they draw show them as naked in front of nature, which adds weight to what they said that their art and pieces of drawing were a reunion with nature and living in a society that is part of the nature. The mode in which Gilbert and George paint the word ‘shifty world’ in red signifies several concepts (Robin 162). According to me, the artists made nature their beauty and basis of argument in some of their pictures. One of them was bloody shit house. Gilbert and George draw a picture of themselves in front of a sculpture of a house made of shit walls. From the picture, the intention of the artists is clear in describing the purpose of nature in the society. Despite the fact that people use other refined materials to build their houses and homes, nature still offers the best and that nature protects everything in the world. Gilbert and George are naked in front of the house as symbol of their reunion with nature. Bugger faith and Colored cocks In explaining their concept of human sexuality, Gilbert and George use the artwork bugger faith and Colored Cocks. From the piece of artwork, the artists illustrate four cocks coming together. In any of their interviews and written literature interpretation of their artworks, Gilbert and George said that they would never judge anyone based on their sexual orientation. I would argue that they are accommodative of all cultures and orientations. The artists said this as they argued that the did are for all and that their intention was to use art a platform to represent all needs and interests of everyone, not only by the art lovers but also everyone in England and the world over. The sense and touch of human sexuality adopted by Gilbert and George has come under sharp criticism over their sexual orientations as well as what they perceive to be morally right in the society (Robin, 185). This is in terms of sex, homosexual or heterosexual relationships among human beings. The colored cocks are another price of artwork by Gilbert and George that still speak of human sexuality. The cocks are draw, two facing downwards and two facing upwards and they all face each other. From the pictures, it is clear that the artists had some aspects of male dominance in their thoughts, which made tem draw male human body organs including their organs as well. Artwork is a representation of the thoughts that underlie the human thinking and specifically the artist’s thinking (William 158). Although Gilbert and George drew many pictures, most of them depicted them as naked or in full suits. When Gilbert and George were not drawing nude pictures of themselves on their reunion with nature and sexuality, they were drawing pictures in suits arguing on religion and human character. Works Cited Boticelli, Sandro. The Birth of Art. London: Cultura Art Publishing, 2011. Print. Dawn, Sova. How to Write and Interpret Images and Suclptures: Action Angle and Anecdote. New Jersy: Petersons Print, 2012. Print. Dunant, Sarah. The Birth and Growth of Art in UK. New York: Little Brown Book Group, 2012. Print. Robin Dutt. Gilbert & George: obsessions & compulsions. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2011. Print. Tate, Modern. Gilbert & George Major Exhibition: Teachers Pack. New York: E,C.T. 2015. Print. Ulrich, Hans. Gilbert & George: Art Titles 1969-2010 : in Alphabetical Order. New York: W. Koning Publishers, 2011. Print. Zirpolo, Lilian. Historical Dictionary of Renaissance Art. London: Scarecrow Press Inc, 2010. Print. Read More