Lebendige Skulpturen

In the history of art, the title Living Sculpture is associated with the UK-based duo Gilbert & George. It relates to an artistic mindset the two artists presented to the public towards the end of the 1960s when they decided to make their lives, or rather themselves, the object of their art: “The day we said that we are the living sculpture, that was it. Art and life became one, and we were the messengers of a new vision. At that moment that we decided we are art and life, every conversation with people became art, and still is.” This stance broadened the notion of sculpture within the context of the Pop, Minimal and Conceptual Art movements being discussed around this time and caused a stir – not least among the informed circles of the European art scene. Gilbert & George’s ideas made quite an impact on Germany’s Rhineland where the closely affiliated artists Konrad Lueg, Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter had been seeking new ways of making art both individually and collectively since the early 1960s. Not only working within the medium of painting these three artists also experimented with works that, to differing extents, approached the genre of sculpture. Becoming Gilbert & George’s gallerist as Konrad Fischer from 1969/70 Lueg therefore explored this thematic complex in various manifestations.