Pierre et Gilles

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Pierre et Gilles is the name of a French gay artist couple. It consists of the photographer Pierre Commoy (* 1950 in La Roche-sur-Yon ) and the painter Gilles Blanchard (* 1953 in Le Havre ).

biography

Both grew up in Catholic families. Pierre studied photography in Geneva, Gilles painting in Le Havre. Both moved to Paris in 1973 . Here Pierre mainly took photos from the rock and pop scene for various magazines, Gilles lived as a commercial artist and illustrator for magazines. They met in 1976 at a party at Kenzō Takada and began a life together. Inspired by machine passport photos and their bright colors, Gilles began to paint over portrait photos of Pierre for the first time in 1977 - the joint work was born. At first they worked together for the fashion, magazine and club scene and also designed their first record covers. Clients were u. a. Thierry Mugler , Amanda Lear and Marie France . In 1983 they designed their first exhibition. Especially the reproductions in magazines quickly made Pierre et Gilles world famous.

plant

Pierre et Gilles almost exclusively do portraits in the studio. The person portrayed is lavishly costumed and placed in front of a lovingly sculptured background. The model is photographed, and the print is finally colored by Gilles. Her subjects are primarily pop and gay culture, religion , but also haunting child portraits are part of her work. Particularly famous are her depictions of Catholic saints, which began with a depiction of Saint Sebastian in 1987. Many consider the art of Pierre et Gilles kitsch - in a good as well as in a bad sense. They portrayed numerous celebrities, including Marc Almond , Cheb Khaled , Catherine Deneuve , Serge Gainsbourg , Étienne Daho , Jean Paul Gaultier , Nina Hagen , Madonna , Siouxsie Sioux , Jeff Stryker and Paloma Picasso .

In the run-up to the “Naked Men” exhibition at the Leopold Museum in Vienna from October 2012, the image “Vive la France” was selected for the advertising poster for the exhibition. The fact that the poster showed a picture of three naked men led to controversy among the Viennese public, so the Leopold Museum voluntarily had the posters pasted over with beams or replaced with an alternative motif near schools. Even Facebook prompted that the image on the pages of derStandard.at and the side of the Leopold Museum in only retouched may appear form.

Works

Series

  • Grimaces, 1977
  • Palace, invitation cards and posters, 1978
  • Adam et Ève, 1982
  • Les Enfants des voyages, 1982
  • Garçons de Paris, 1983
  • Paradis, 1983
  • Naufragés, 1986
  • Pleureuses, 1986
  • Les Saints, from 1987
  • Au bord du Mékong, 1994
  • Boxeurs thaï, 1994
  • Jolis Voyoux, 1995
  • Plaisirs de la forêt, 1995

Exhibitions

Important exhibitions and exhibition locations:

  • Paradis and Garçons de Paris, Galerie Texbraun, Paris, 1983
  • Naufragés and Pleureuses, Samia Saouma Gallery, Paris, 1986
  • First retrospective, Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris, 1996
  • Douce Violence, Jérôme de Noirmont Gallery, Paris, 2000
  • Arrache mon cœur, Jérôme de Noirmont Gallery, Paris, 2001
  • Beautiful Dragon, Asian retrospective, Museum of Art de Séoul, 2004
  • Le Grand Amour, Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris, France, 2004
  • Rétrospective, for the inauguration of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, 2005
  • double je, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, June 29 to September 23, 2007
  • Pierre et Gilles - Retrospective, Galerie C / O Berlin, July 24th to October 4th, 2009

Illustrated books

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Time: Photo Art as Urban Surrealism
  2. ↑ Facebook deletes "Naked Men" . In: Der Standard from October 12, 2012, accessed on October 13, 2012.