Art dealer James Birch tells Heni News about his new book on one of his most unlikely triumphs when he took Gilbert & George to the Soviet Union for a show of their work in 1990.
Q. Why do you think their work went down so well in what was still Soviet Russia and later China?
A. The colors were bold and familiar, red in particular has real resonance for communists and socialists everywhere. Their gargantuan figures and hardcore poses resemble propaganda posters and public statues, familiar to both countries.
Q. It’s a remarkable story with a remarkable cast – artists, actors, KGB officers etc..How have people reacted to it?
A. I’ve had a fantastic response. I describe a world pre-internet, before easy worldwide travel where art had not become the international currency it is today. People marveled at the audacity of the attempt and empathised with the challenges we faced.
Q. If you could take the work of any contemporary artist now to a similarly closed society, say North Korea, who would you take and why?
A. In my next book The Rejects I am hoping to write about my attempts to take an exhibition to North Korea. I would love to take a retrospective of Yoko Ono’s work to Pyongyang.
Gilbert & George and the Communists is out now.
