Gilbert and George
The World of Gilbert & George was completed in 1981 and in many ways it is the artists’ magnum opus. It is a film that deals with identity, patriotism, duty, sacrifice, life, death, sex, and religion. It encompasses so many of Gilbert & George’s preoccupations, so familiar from their monumental art works, and yet it has an intimacy and poetry that you will often only find when speaking to the artists themselves. It is a film that seems even more resonant in post-Brexit Britain – although this present conversation with the artists takes place before the votes in the referendum have been cast. The film is set in London, mostly in their house in Fournier Street in Spitalfields, east London – the site of their studio and home for many years, and where this interview is held.