Gilbert and George

We went to two exhibitions yesterday. One was at the Serpentine, called The Welfare Show, with various exhibits including a hallway full of bored security “guards”, and a luggage carrousel behind a glass screen, with one bag revolving forlornly on it. Then we went to the White Cube, in Hoxton, to see Gilbert and George’s exhibition, Sonofagod Pictures, subtitled “Was Jesus Heterosexual?” As we walked in, who should be at the door but Gilbert and George themselves, signing copies of the exhibition program. I paid my 5 quid and queued up. They are really rather Pooterish-looking, but I think it’s a good assumption that they drive a lot of the currents in British art these days. George signed first: “and George”, and “With all our love from”; he then passed the book to Gilbert, who added his “Gilbert” in front of the “and George”.

The pictures are really thought-provoking; instead of making you wonder what Gilbert and George are really like (as many of their other works do), this one does make you think about Jesus and your relationship with him. The main work, “Was Jesus Heterosexual?”, has a surtitle and a subtitle. The surtitle is “Jesus says forgive yourself.”, and the subtitle is “God loves fucking! Enjoy!”

There is a lot of food for thought, and perhaps a sermon, in those words. Don’t know whether I could preach it in an Anglican church or not…

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