The work of the two artists is located in Gallery 2 and was exhibited for the first time in 1971 at the Galleria Sperone in Turin. It is one of 13 different charcoal-on-paper sculptures created between 1970 and 1974 and now scattered around the world.
Thanks to its monumental proportions, “There Were Two Young Men” suggests an immersive relationship with the viewer. This paper "sculpture" depicts two protagonists - the artists - in a bucolic environment whose hedonism is tinged with melancholy. They appear to be conversing softly, leaning against a tree, in the spirit of neo-romantic British landscape painting. The graphic intrusions, throughout the “sculpture”, from the capitalized title that serves as a baseline, to a handwritten limerick in upper and lower case letters, add further complexity, alluding to the universe of popular poetry and nursery rhymes.
“There Were Two Young Men” is presented alongside other works by Gilbert & George created from a similar inspiration, such as “The Limericks” (1971) – also in the Foundation's Collection – an eight-part “Postal Sculpture” whose illustrations they've been taken from images of bomb sites, cruising beside the Thames or rural Suffolk, quoting the same vernacular poem lyrics as There Were Two Young Men. Respecting the desire of the artists, "Nature Photo Piece" (1971), a composition of black and white images featured in the exhibition, as well as two contemporary "Video Sculptures". The entire presentation was conceived in close collaboration with the artists, who were fully involved in both the exhibition and the catalog structure.
Gilbert & George
Born in 1943 and 1942, live and work in London (United Kingdom). Shortly after leaving the Saint Martin School of Art, where they met in 1967, Gilbert & George achieved recognition by becoming "Living Sculpture". Dressed in plain clothes, their faces devoid of emotion and covered in multicolored metallic powder, they sang a 30s song about “Underneath the Arches”. From the beginning, the artists chose to distinguish themselves from the formalist and conceptual artistic context of the period, choosing a figurative language. From a staging of everyday life (walking, singing, reading, drinking), they derive a visual material that they have exploited since the early 70s in images, first in black and white, then in colour. From the beginning, their art testifies to the consistency of their position, favoring a denigrated figuration together with another characteristic of their art, the ambition to create Beauty and Art for All. Another constant in the art of Gilbert & George is the choice of a form that communicates directly, in a spirit of exchange with the viewer, where individual emotions are experienced to the fullest and reach the universal.
Cover image: Gilbert & George, There were two young men, 1971. © Gilbert & George, DR Crédit photo : © Primae / David Bordes
