Art

"We don't have a message, we only want to create beauty." - Pierre et Gilles

And beauty they have created, indeed. Perfectly detailed muscles ripple beneath a tight muscle-tee, a halo of blue and silver encircles the body and the oh-so-nice but oh-so-bad smile gleams with angelic light. Add a dash of glitter, and a well-crafted setting, usually a garden of mythic proportions or a glammed-up urban jungle, and you've got the essence of Pierre et Gilles (P&G).

Based in a deserted power station in a suburb of Paris, France, these two artists have been producing stylized portraits since the late 70s. Pierre Comoy worked as a photographer in 1976 when he was introduced to painter Gilles Blanchard at a party. The two decided to collaborate on artistic work a year later, and in 1978 they designed the invitation to a Thierry Mugler fashion show. From that moment on, the pair have worked for magazines like Marie Claire and Playboy, designed album covers, and created stylized portraits of friends and celebrities, including Catherine Deneuve, Marc Almond, Nina Hagen, Marie France, and admirer Jean-Paul Gautier. Madonna was photographed by Pierre et Gilles for a Japanese commercial, and their work has been used by several designers to sell perfume.

In 1992 the pair married, and solidified a relationship that was already working wonderfully -- Pierre taking the photos and Gilles painting on them.

The real work goes into the creation of elaborate settings and strong characters, sometimes equated with the work of early painters idealizing kings and queens. P&G have also been compared to modern American artist Jeff Koons, whose sculpture series "Banality" questions ideas of celebrity and image-making.

Despite the faux finish of glam and glitter, there is some kind of message inherent in the works. The religious icon appears in many forms -- the saint, god, angel or devil -- all sexually charged. The colors and surreal settings make many of the pieces feel similar to the depiction of saints in Mexican folk art, or the stylized representations of Hindu gods. P&G's "Bad Boy" series presents archetypes of gay culture, including the hustler, the leather man, and the sailor.

Combine these themes with an absurdly idealized human form and you've found yourself the underlying message of Pierre et Gilles' work. The struggle for beauty and perfection in a mortal world, the vanity and godliness of the fashion world, the search for personal identity within rigid gender definitions and the desire to find eternal youthfulness are all captured in Pierre's lens and Gilles' paintbrush.

- All artwork/images are property of Pierre et Gilles and/or the galleries or individuals that own them, and/or their agents.