GOTT&GILZ
GOTT&GILZ
PEACEMAKER I–V
| Contact | Aylin Kowalewsky |
|---|---|
| Year | 2024 |
| Edition | 5 unique works |
| Technique | Digital print and acrylic on Aluminum Dibond |
| Image Size | 50 x 50 cm (I–IV) / 75 x 50 cm (V) |
| Price | € 3.400 (I–IV) / € 4.300 (V) (incl. 7% VAT) |
| Details | signed, dated, and titled on the verso |
The artist duo GOTT & GILZ are known for the sublime games of deception they play with aesthetic paradigms from the history of art. For the release of their monograph SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, they have created five unique mixed-media works that fuse the iconography of the many-armed Hindu goddess Durga with modern action art. Durga, the embodiment of shakti, the divine female energy, represents the ultimate creative power of the universe. With her many arms she protects humankind from evil and brings blessings, happiness, and prosperity. These works pay homage to the multifaceted and all-encompassing power of the feminine and the transformative impact of art that creates rather than destroys. (Each work comes with two original “weapons of art” that were used in the making of the PEACEMAKER edition.)
-
GOTT&GILZ
Supernatural Beings54€ Add to cartGOTT&GILZ clothe provocative nudity into the guise of art-historical classics
The female nude is a constant of art history whose vicissitudes illustrate changing forms of representation and the wild swings of public morality. Many a nude was initially condemned as smut only to be reclassified a few years later as beautiful and becoming and inducted into the hallowed halls (the opposite has also happened). GOTT&GILZ’s photographic paintings build on this long tradition of depictions of naked women by men—theirs is the proverbial “male gaze.” It is a debt they are quick to acknowledge, with nods to Klimt, Schiele, Pollock, et al. No wonder some have responded to their work with kneejerk indignation. Unlike in those art-historical references, then, the impudence lies not in the shattering of traditional norms of representation but in quoting them: the past as affront. The women in the pictures as well as the artists themselves flaunt their desires, shamelessly and relentlessly confronting us with the historic roots of our social and psychological realities.
Freedom is the key idea in the two artists’ oeuvre: the freedom to be authentic and express oneself without shame. Their subtly provocative play with aesthetic conventions and taboos has not only made a splash on the arts scene, it has also prompted vital discussions about gender roles, body images, and the right to sexual self-determination.
By letting it all hang out, they allow us to see ourselves as we are instead of presenting a picture of what we (supposedly) should be like. The insolence of it!