Ages

In the late sixties, under the democratic motto Art for All, the artists’ duo Gilbert & George presented themselves as Living Sculptures, which gave them every opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings with the public. Concerns about the (difficult) position and function of art and the artist in modern society. Originally, they gave motionless performances in their role of British gentlemen, in old-fashioned tweed suits that were slightly too tight and with hands and faces covered in bronze paint. In doing so, they conformed to an aesthetic code of conduct they had invented themselves. From the second half of the seventies they focused on the wall-sized arrangements of separate framed photos, works in which the artists always occupied a central position themselves.

The work Ages is part of a fixed group of works with the title New Horny Pictures. Works that consist of a combination of adverts from gay magazines and portraits of the two artists. This work is best described as a look into the practice of the gay dating scene. The advertisements offered to men by naming their physical qualities.