Gillie and Marc

Gillie and Marc with their dog Indie in their home, 2017

Gillie and Marc Schattner are a collaborative artist couple known for public sculptures.[1] Their sculptures feature animals, and human-animal hybrids.[2][3][4]

In 2018 they gained attention and controversy for two public sculptures in New York City. The Chinatown community prevented their Chinese ‘Year of the Dog’ themed sculpture He knew this was going to be a year of good fortune from being installed near a memorial to Chinese-American World War II veterans, as the community felt it was demeaning.[5][6] They installed The Last Three, a large sculpture of the last three Northern White Rhinos, in Astor Place. Jerry Saltz called their work "a kitschy monstrosity," and said that it "proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap."[7]

Art Career

Marc studied graphic design at Swinburne, Melbourne, while Gillie received no formal art training.[8] Prior to collaborating, Gillie worked as a model, and Marc was an artist from Melbourne working in an advertising agency. The Schattners first exhibited as a pair in Singapore in 1990. Upon returning to Australia in 1999, they had a joint exhibition called Life Can’t Wait, painting portraits of twenty Australians who face death and were on the organ waiting list. The project was sponsored by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and was used to create awareness and encourage the public to sign up to be organ donors. In 2006 they were Archibald Prize finalists for a portrait of former Olympic swimmer John Konrads representing his battle with bi-polar disorder.[9] They made their first hybrid human-animal heads in 2005; they created the characters Dogman and Rabbitgirl, (who later became Rabbitwoman) in 2011. Their work has been stolen,[10][11] and the nude figurs have generated controversy.[12]

Public Sculptures

The Paparazzi Dogs

In 2013 Gillie and Marc created a series of sculptures depicting a dog holding a camera, which were exhibited in Melbourne, Sydney,[13] Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and New York City.

The Last Three

In March 2017, Gillie and Marc announced plans to build what they claimed would be the "world's largest rhino sculpture" in Astor Place New York's East Village to raise awareness for rhino conservation.[14][15] On March 14th, 2018 the17-feet tall sculpture was unveiled[16] representing Sudan, Najin and Fatu - the last three Northern White Rhinos. [17] Coincidentally, 3 days after the installation of The Last Three, Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino died. Flowers were brought to the sculpture's base.[18] [19]

The art-critic Jerry Saltz called the work "a Kitschy Monstrosity," saying it was "an ugly, bathos-filled folly that proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap" and "little more than a place to take selfies."[7]

Other Works

Other Rhino sculptures have been installed in city of Dubbo, Australia,[20] La Trobe University,[21] and Sydney’s Tamarama Beach where the sculpture won the Allen's People’s Choice Award and Kids' Choice Award after it survived a king tide.[22][23] They have also made sculptures of lions,[24] tigers, [25] chimps, [26] and other animals.

New York City Chinatown Controversy

Gillie and Marc created a sculpture to celebrate the Chinese ‘Year of the Dog’ titled He knew this was going to be a year of good fortune. The sculpture show their Dogman character holding a very large red apple. One copy was installed in a Melbourne shopping mall, while the other was intended to be unveiled the day before the Lunar New Year in New York City’s Chinatown at Kimlau Square, which holds a memorial to Chinese-American World War II veterans.[27]

The Chinatown community prevented the work from being installed. Led by Amy Chin, Special Advisor for Cultural Initiatives of the Chinatown Partnership, the community circulated a petition that said it would have been demeaning to place the statue, “under the Arch named for Lt. Benjamin R. Kimlau,” who died in World War II fighting for the United States. “This insulting image of a ‘Dog-Man’ has no place next to this sacred and solemn community site where we honor our community heroes.” The petition gained more than 300 signatories within the first 24 hours.[28]

Questions have also been raised about the process used to select the project for one of the neighborhood’s most visible public spaces. Karlin Chan, the lone Chinese member of the Parks, Recreation, Cultural Affairs, & Waterfront Committee of Community Board 3, said that the sculpture is reflective of “a well-intentioned but wrong approach.” [31] However, Wellington Chen, the head of the LDC, said “Chinatown is the biggest victim. The neighborhood is not as vibrant as it was before. The sculpture was to be placed here to bring tourists in. Now Chinatown is bleeding.” [29]

Personal Life

Gillie and Marc met in 1990 on a film shoot in Hong Kong, where Gillie was a model and Marc was the creative director. She is Catholic and he is Jewish.[30] They married seven days after they met, in a Hindi ceremony.[30] They have lived in Singapore, and New York, and now live in Sydney.[9][31]

References

  1. ↑ "These Artists Want to Save the Rhinos.... by Building the World's Biggest Rhino Sculpture | artnet News". artnet News. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  2. ↑ Gillie and Marc: 20 years of marriage and art.
  3. ↑ "Sit Alongside Rabbitgirl and Dogman at Gillie and Marc's 'Table of Love'". Untapped Cities. 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  4. ↑ "Art Month Sydney 2018 | Gillie and Marc". www.artmonthsydney.com.au. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  5. ↑ "– Sculpture to Celebrate Year of the Dog Stirs Controversy in Chinatown". voicesofny.org. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  6. ↑ ""Dog-man" makes few friends in Chinatown". Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  7. 1 2 Saltz, Jerry. "The New Astor Place Rhino Sculpture Is a Kitschy Monstrosity". Vulture. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  8. ↑ "Featured Artist Interview - Gillie and Marc". Design Taxi. 29 June 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Archibald Prize Archibald 2006 finalist: John and his black dog by Gillie and Marc Schattner". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "Thieves filmed stealing dog statue". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "$10,000 reward for stolen dog statue". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  12. ↑ Fortescue, Elizabeth. "Statue cops a bum wrap". The Daily Telegraph Australia. The Daily Telegraph Australia. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "Police recover $25,000 sculpture from art thief". Daily Telegraph (Australia). 21 February 2017.
  14. ↑ "These Artists Want to Save the Rhinos. How? By Building the World's Biggest Rhino Sculpture". Artnet. May 31, 2017.
  15. ↑ "The biggest rhino sculpture in the world is coming to Astor Place next year". Time Out. 30 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "Rhino Statue Installed At Astor Place". East Village, NY Patch. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  17. ↑ "Statue honoring trio of rare rhinos coming to NYC". New York Post. 2018-03-10. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  18. ↑ "Here's everything you need to know about that massive rhino statue at Astor Place". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  19. ↑ "White Northern Rhino Honored In Astor Place Statue Has Died". East Village, NY Patch. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  20. ↑ "Dubbo's Rhino Sculptures". dubbo.com.au. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  21. ↑ "Rhinos relocate to La Trobe". La Trobe University. 22 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "Sculpture by the Sea's Buried Rhino: artists offer iconic sculpture as gift to Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 November 2016.
  23. ↑ picketstudio.com (2016-11-08). "People's Choice Award & Kids' Choice Award Winner Announced!: - Sculpture by the Sea". Sculpture by the Sea. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  24. ↑ "National Zoo & Aquarium". National Zoo & Aquarium. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  25. ↑ "Healesville Sanctuary | Zoos Victoria". www.zoo.org.au. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  26. ↑ "Visit". Zoo. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  27. ↑ "– Sculpture to Celebrate Year of the Dog Stirs Controversy in Chinatown". voicesofny.org. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  28. ↑ ""Dog-man" makes few friends in Chinatown | Manhattan, New York, NY | Local News". Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  29. ↑ ""Dogman" Sculpture Stirs Controversy in Chinatown (Updated) | The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side". The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side. 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  30. 1 2 Lacey, Stephen (8 October 2016). "Gillie and Marc: the couple who created Dogman and Rabbitgirl". Retrieved 17 July 2017 – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  31. ↑ "A Couple That Paints Together, Stays Together". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.