Gilbert & George

Each sheet is accompanied by an "arrow" sign, a label indicating the sequence number, and a label with instructions of installation, all affixed to the reverse.

White Cube, Hong Kong
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Gilbert & George: London Pictures, London, Hurtwood Press, 2012, pl. 250, illustrated in colour

This work is in very good condition. There are no signs of soiling. The work can be de-installed into 9 separately framed sheets. With installation instruction affixed to the reverse of each sheet.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the London Pictures series, Gilbert & George depict the present urban life in all its absurdity and routine violence. This series shows the real story of London in an attempt to create a contemporary townscape. Brutal and melodramatic, each picture is based on the sorting and classification by subject of 3712 newspaper headline posters, stolen by the artists in London over a number of years to create 292 works. All the subjects to be found in London are represented: sex, money, race and religion.

As in Sex & Money, the present work, the red and black words contrast with the almost abstract vision of the London City buildings. As always, the artist appear in their work but this time, they seem to be less important than the text itself which relates the different cases in court all about sex harassment or sex claims. As they recall in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (quoted by Linda Blake in an interview with Gilbert & George, March 1, 2012)  "We wanted the text on top, with everything else behind. We didn't want any good-quality imagery. We wanted it to be very casual".

According to the artists, the series is a testament to freedom. "There are some cities where you couldn't have these posters or these texts. In some ways, it's a kind of celebration of freedom, and the risks that go with freedom. The posters were grouped together by a single theme or word. At some point, when the whole studio was filled with these posters, we became very emotional about it,' said George. 'Is this really the world we live in? Is it such a miserable, desperate unhappy place?' (Quoted by Linda Blake, op. cit.)

Gilbert and George met in 1967 in Saint Martins, London. In 1969, they created their first “singing and living sculptures”, making themselves both subjects and objects of their works in a perfect fusion of their art and their everyday life. Gilbert & George then started to appear as “living sculptures” in museums and galleries. In their works dating from 1971 are the first grid-arrangements, which would become their formal visual signature. Over the years, their iconography have become more complex containing endless levels of meanings from symbolic and allegorical to the most unbridled eroticism, to the religious, political and personal. However complex the roots of their imagery are, their works are always immediately recognizable and the primary meaning understandable. As Gilbert & George said in their manifesto, What Our Art Means: “We want our art to speak across the barriers of knowledge directly to people about their life and not about their knowledge of art”.