About the Artwork
Gilbert and George met at London's St. Martin's School of Art in 1967 and have been inseparable ever since. In the 1970s Gilbert and George put on metallic make-up and became "living sculptures." Standing atop a table, they would sing a popular ditty, accompanied by an old-fashioned gramophone. Urban creatures by choice, Gilbert and George have sought to identify with nature by portraying themselves, respectfully suited, against the backdrop of London's Kew Gardens. Their poses are a tongue-in-cheek allusion to British poets' search, in centuries past, for sustenance and renewal from nature. Parked collapses the two meanings of the word "park" into one as it shows the "living sculptures," stiffly seated one behind the other, to create a receding perspective that draws our eye to a tree in bloom.
Parked
1987
Gilbert and George
established 1967
English
Unknown
Gelatin-silver print with pochoir
Overall: 119 × 139 inches (302.3 cm × 3 m 53.1 cm)
Paintings
Contemporary Art after 1950
Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council and the Friends of Modern Art, in memory of Samuel J. Wagstaff, Jr.
1988.11
Copyright not assessed, please contact [email protected].
Markings
Signed, lower right: Gilbert & George
Inscribed, lower right: PARKED 1987
Provenance
The artists, Gilbert and George
(Anthony D'Offay Gallery, London, England)
1988-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Nawrocki, Dennis. "Gilbert & George: Parked in nature," Bulletin of the DIA vol. 65, no. 1, 1989, p. 5-21, (ill).
Bulletin of the DIA 64, no. 2/3, 1988, p. 36, fig. 24, (ill).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Gilbert and George, Parked, 1987, gelatin-silver print with pochoir. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council and the Friends of Modern Art, in memory of Samuel J. Wagstaff, Jr., 1988.11.
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