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The Alcoholic

A work made of sixteen gelatin silver prints.

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  • A work made of sixteen gelatin silver prints.

Date:

1978

Artist:

Gilbert & George
Gilbert Proesch; British, born 1943; George Passmore; British, born 1942

About this artwork

Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore met in 1967 as students at St. Martin’s School of Art in London. By 1969 they dropped their surnames in order to rid themselves of their separate artistic identities and became a collaborative unit. Although they work in a variety of media, including performance, photography, film, and video, Gilbert & George refer to all of their work as sculpture. Early on, they performed as “living sculptures,” making themselves their own subject matter. In 1971 Gilbert & George made their first multipanel photographs, which have remained their dominant form of expression. In the 1970s, they gradually shifted the emphasis of their art away from their own experiences to larger social issues, scrutinizing the inner-city realities that confronted them on the streets of London.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Gilbert & George

Title

The Alcoholic

Place

United Kingdom (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1978

Medium

Sixteen gelatin silver prints

Dimensions

60.3 × 50.2 cm (23 3/4 × 19 3/4 in.), each; 242 × 202 cm (95 1/4 × 79 3/8 in.), installed

Credit Line

Twentieth-Century Purchase Fund

Reference Number

1978.57a-p

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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