Gilbert & George CRUSADE 1980 © Gilbert & George

Biography

Nationalities Italian
English

Italian-born Gilbert Proesch and Englishman George Passmore met and studied at St Martin's School of Art in London in 1967 and have made only collaborative works since then. In 1969 they performed the first of several 'living sculptures', which rapidly launched their international careers as leading British performance artists. Since the early 1970s they have concentrated on producing large-scale photo-pieces, usually with themselves as the central subject. Gilbert & George state that their aim is to make their art as accessible as possible and that their art and life are one and the same. They won the Turner Prize in 1986.

Glossary terms

Glossary terms

Conceptual art

Art in which the idea takes precedence over its manifestation in visual form. It emerged in the 1960s and was often concerned with the nature of art and the use of language.

Turner Prize

Founded in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded annually to the ‘most outstanding contribution’ to British art that took place in the last year.

Body Art

Art practices from the 1960s onwards in which the human body forms the substance of the work. It is often manifest in performances which are documented by film or photography.