Gilbert and George: We like to be weird and normal at the same time

For all their success there’s still something discreetly anarchic about Gilbert and George – a hint of danger behind their impeccable manners and immaculately tailored suits. William Cook travels to Brussels to meet the famous duo, who have turned their lives together into a perpetual, seamless artwork

Tuesday 19 February 2019 10:38 GMT
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Gilbert and George outside their house in Spitalfields: ‘We really believe that Fournier Street is the centre of the world for us’
Gilbert and George outside their house in Spitalfields: ‘We really believe that Fournier Street is the centre of the world for us’

In a dilapidated old arsenal on the industrial edge of Brussels, Gilbert and George are singing the music hall song that made them famous. Their audience seem a bit bemused, and who on earth can blame them? “Underneath the Arches” is as British as warm beer or test match cricket, and equally incomprehensible to European punters. First performed by a very different duo, Flanagan and Allen, way back in the 1930s, it was already a golden oldie when Gilbert and George started singing it in art galleries 50 years ago.

Half a century later, it’s become the theme tune for their lifelong career as Living Sculptures. No wonder these continental liggers are nonplussed. To anyone who isn’t steeped in British culture, with its weird passion for nostalgia, Gilbert and George must seem very odd indeed. “We never wanted to be weird because all artists like the idea of being weird, and we never wanted to be normal because everybody’s normal,” says George, by way of explanation. “We like to be weird and normal at the same time.”

Gilbert and George are here in Brussels to open Brafa, one of Europe’s most prestigious art fairs. Each year, a famous artist is invited to be Brafa’s guest of honour. Last year, it was Christo. This year, it’s Gilbert and George. Their big bold artworks are scattered around this huge hall, an incongruous contrast to the antique paintings that surround them.

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