Gilbert& George

Gilbert & George became known to the wider public for their large-format photography from the late 1970s. Their work builds around themes such as piety, religion, sexuality and discrimination in a playful, naive and provocative kitschy way.

"And we think we're right, if not, Jesus can punish us."

Today we visited the exhibition "The Beard Pictures" at the White Cube Gallery."THE BEARD PICTURES are violent, eerie, grotesque, lurid and crazed. They show a dream-like world of paranoia and destruction and madness. Their strange sickly colours and creeping, smashed up, absurd landscapes confront the viewer with relentless aggression. THE BEARD PICTURES depict a world bereft of reason, in which negotiation no longer exists."

It's impressive how many references are recognizable in each individual work. Most conspicuously, almost every picture contains a self-portrait of the artists, reincarnated as one or two insects. You can find parasites, beetles and caterpillars.

Especially recognizable is the choice of colour in their work, it'4s limited to a few colors, all the colors you get when you buy pens for $2. 

Part of most images in the first room is destruction and barbed wire which  you automatically connect with war and captivity.

In the work "Beards away" you can slightly hidden see the symbols "hope, faith and love", right next to the work "Beardsescort" in which the artists point the way through a barbed wire fence, which strongly reminds of the gates of Auschwitz.

Thus, both pictures are paradoxically in a very unpleasant context. More provocation on one wall is probably not possible. If you continue to the next room you will see "Beardlight". A Menorah shaped from beards of artists.

"BEARDESCORT"

"BEARD AWAY"

My favorite work is "Crossed Beards". In this work, their beards remind of the "Swords of Kadesia". The "Swords of Victory" are often associated with terrorism because militias use them as their symbol of recognition. Thus, this work deals with a highly political issue, which is additionally decorated with the year "20-16" in headshot position on their foreheads.

"CROSSED BEARDS"