Gilbert and George and Dr Nicholas Cullinan | Frieze Masters Podcast
The eighth episode, On Context, is now available, presented in collaboration with dunhill and the National Portrait Gallery
The eighth episode, On Context, is now available, presented in collaboration with dunhill and the National Portrait Gallery
‘Sex, death, race and religion’ – these are the topics that the London-based artists Gilbert and George announced they wanted to cover in this talk with Dr Nicholas Cullinan of the National Portrait Gallery. On Context offers insights into the artist’s relationship to concepts: from sculpture to the city, ‘picture making’ to posterity. Gilbert and George resist many of the contexts and interpretations projected onto their practice: trying to keep their work as accessible and open as possible, reflecting their self-proclaimed belief in ‘art for all’.
You can also find this episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
We like to let the pictures make themselves as much as possible. We like to think that there are other forces apart from us, being in the studio knowing what to do. […] When we go to the studio in the morning and see what we were doing the day before, it’s always impossible for us to reconstruct exactly how we arrived at it. – Gilbert & George
Find works discussed in this episode here:
Gilbert & George, Singing Sculpture, 1970 © Gilbert & George; courtesy White Cube
Gilbert & George, There were two young men, 1971 © Gilbert & George; photo: Primae / David Bordes;
courtesy White Cube
Gilbert & George, There were two young men, 1971 © Gilbert & George; photo: Primae / David Bordes; courtesy White Cube
Gilbert & George, There were two young men, 1971 © Gilbert & George; photo: Primae / David Bordes;
courtesy White Cube
Gilbert & George, Gordon's Makes Us Drunk, 1972. Courtesy White Cube
Gilbert & George, Gordon's Makes Us Drunk, 1972. Courtesy White Cube
Gilbert & George, Singing Sculpture, 1991 © Gilbert & George; courtesy White Cube
Portrait of Gilbert & George © Gilbert & George; photo © Farokh Talati
The Gilbert & George Centre, London, 2023 © Gilbert & George; photo © Prudence Cuming
The Gilbert & George Centre, London, 2023 © Gilbert & George; photo © Prudence Cuming
The Gilbert & George Centre, London, 2023 © Gilbert & George; photo © Prudence Cuming
The Gilbert & George Centre, London, 2023 © Gilbert & George; photo © Prudence Cuming
The Gilbert & George Centre, London, 2023 © Gilbert & George; photo © Prudence Cuming
'Gilbert & George: Major Exhibition', Tate Modern, London, 15 February – 7 May 2007 © Gilbert & George; photo: Tate Modern
'Gilbert & George: Major Exhibition', Tate Modern, London, 15 February – 7 May 2007 © Gilbert & George; photo: Tate Modern
'Gilbert & George: Major Exhibition', Tate Modern, London, 15 February – 7 May 2007 © Gilbert & George; photo: Tate Modern
Gilbert & George, Gilbert & George (‘IN THE PISS’), 1997 © Gilbert & George
The Gilbert & George Centre, London, 2023 © Gilbert & George; photo © Prudence Cuming
Gilbert and George live and work in London and since they met in 1967, they have made over 100 museum exhibitions. In 2023, the Gilbert & George Centre opened in East London. Dr Nicholas Cullinan is Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
About Frieze Masters Podcast
The Frieze Masters Podcast is now available, bringing you our annual programme of live talks – the Frieze Masters Talks programme – curated by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Dr Nicholas Cullinan. These conversations between leading artists, writers, museum directors and curators all reflect the ethos of the Frieze Masters fair: looking at the past with a contemporary gaze.
The Frieze Masters Talks programme and the Frieze Masters Podcast are brought to you by Frieze in collaboration with dunhill, the foremost British luxury menswear house.
Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
This podcast is a Reduced Listening production. The producer was Silvia Malnati and sound engineer was Andy Fell.
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