Have you ever read a review of an exhibition and been left knowing less about it, or totally confused? Sometimes, seeing first hand is the only way of believing.

Some years ago I blogged about the anti-Christs of British modern art, Gilbert and George. For decades they have confounded the art world with annoyance and provocation lying at the centre of their work, which often includes images of themselves in various stages of undress.

They are in their 80’s now but are still at it, with their current exhibition at Hayward Gallery in London titled “21st Century Pictures” typically dividing opinion. The critic Waldemar Januszczak (who can be less than effusive at times in his reviews) being somewhat scathing of the show. He believes the pair of G’s has become tired, repetitive and boring, like a pub bore.

It appears as though Januszczak was suffering from visual overload to the point that he was gasping for air. The G’s still manage to insert images of themselves into their work “like a pair of narcissistic Hitchcocks.” Shouty tabloid headlines continue to be part of the deal including “Vicar Fights Brothel Closure”. But I take his point - the Sunday Sport has been churning out this drivel for decades (eg. Two-headed Santa Eats His Reindeer).

These days the G’s work digitally and their large scale works look like digital stained glass windows packed with imagery that, judging by the photos I’ve seen, may become overwhelming. They continue to have religion firmly in their sights as well as the squalor of London’s East End where they live. The main complaint seems to be that the G’s work hasn’t evolved, either in aesthetics or subject matter over the decades and the exhibition appears musty and stale.

Over at The Guardian, reviewer Jonathan Jones has a different take on the exhibition. He believes the exhibition “seethes with life.” A stillness, sadness and romantic vision breathes through the show - a joyous embrace of modern life, according to Jones. He believes walking through the exhibition is akin to walking through a dirty, disreputable city that is littered with the calling cards of male sex workers, among other things. He sees the G’s as crystallizing all forms of human existence in their urban world with the key themes being (as always) sex, religion, money and race. In perhaps a thinly disguised reference to Januszczak, Jones argues that being tired of Gilbert and George is to be tired of life.

So who is right? I get the impression that Jones’ review is from the point of view of a visitor who is not overly familiar with the 2 Gs, whereas Januszczak has been an art critic for over 40 years and has no doubt followed the career of Gilbert and George and become rather jaded by the experience. There is no reference to images of excrement or white underpants appearing in the exhibition, so perhaps some progress has been made by the 2 Gs.

Exhibitions that sharply divide opinion are usually worth seeing, so if “21st Century Pictures” came to Melbourne, chances are that I would check it out.

References;

The Guardian

Waldemar.tv

A Tale of Two Critics