Bad Thoughts, Dirty Words, Modern Rubbish

August 2nd, 2008

In a recent talk on ‘Scandal and Art’ at the Milwaukee Art Museum I described Gilbert & George as heroes of the genre – if scandal can be called a genre.
From early in their career, their work was regarded as too ‘strong’ for some tastes. The ‘Magazine Sculpture’ was censored by Studio International in 1970, despite their sunny smiles, presumably because of the outrageous epithets attached to their elegant clothing.
Through the nineteen-eighties and ‘nineties, a number of American artists were indicted, harassed, or excoriated over the nature of their work, and curators were chastised for exhibiting them.
Robert Mapplethorpe’s overt representations of homosexuality caused immense problems for curator Dennis Barrie at the Corcoran Gallery; Andres Serrano’s ambiguous photographs were described as ‘blasphemy’ by one US Senator, and torn up by another; Jock Sturges had his work and equipment confiscated for months by the FBI, on allegations of creating child pornography. These are just a few of the many victims of the so-called ‘culture wars’ of the period.
Yet the current exhibition shows clearly that G&G had, often years before, created shocking works involving bodily fluids, graphic sexual desires, and very young-looking men; as well as evoking God and crucifixion.
How did they manage to escape the trials and tribulations suffered by others?

One response so far

One Response to “Bad Thoughts, Dirty Words, Modern Rubbish”

  1. # Websites tagged "words" on Postsaveron 04 Sep 2008 at 12:45 pm

    [...] – Bad Thoughts, Dirty Words, Modern Rubbish saved by HeatherRasley2008-08-31 – Perhaps some of the truest words ever spoken saved by [...]

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

 
 
 
 
Milwaukee Art Museum

 
 
 
 
© Copyright 2008 Milwaukee Art Museum