Gilbert and George

Gilbert and George are said to be among the most important and original artists of the late 20th century. Critics have come to recognize the artists' vision and to regard some of their works as among the major pictures of the century. Gilbert (from the Italian Dolomites) and George (from Totnes) met at St Martin's School of Art in the late 1960s and formed an immediate friendship. This is an informal portrait in which they reminisce about their family upbringing, their friendship, life in Spitalfields, and their relish of the mixed cultures of the East End. With their distinctive trademark single-breasted, three-button suits and their famously studied but courteous composure, Gilbert and George set out as artists without a gallery. From living, and singing, sculptures, they developed a line in controversial subject matter that extends from the "Dirty Words Pictures" to "The Naked Shit" and "The Fundamental" pictures.