Gilbert & George (b. 1943 & b. 1942)

'Spring Faith is a unique work from Gilbert & Georges commanding series entitled Modern Fears made between 1980 and 1981. It was inspired by the duo's feeling, articulated here by George, that 'the style of the Western world, the fabric of its life, was very threatened. That's why you have all this crumbling'. (Gilbert & George, quoted in Gilbert & George: The Complete Pictures 1971-1985, exh. cat., Bordeaux, CAPC Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, 1986, p. XXVIII). Dominated by bright colours and religious imagery, Spring Faith is typical of the luminous, slightly sinister world unfolds in these increasingly large format photographs. The vibrant colours, as well as the motif of the cross that is at the heart of the work, were chosen by the duo for their ability to speak a symbolic language that is deliberately universal:

GILBERT: Our techniques and visual language are the most modern for creating a modern picture.

GEORGE: A picture which can speak to people today. Our art is not exclusively for the connoisseur. Many artists work in a way that excludes the vast majority of people.

GILBERT: Our art is based on human life. All the important subjects of existence are involved.

GEORGE: We use colour in different ways. At first we used red and then we used red and yellow. Now we use more colours but in each picture they mean something different. It depends on how we put them to work. They can be symbolic or they can be atmospheric or emotional. You can say red is like love, or it is like blood, or danger, or fire. Its use in different ways, not in a simplistic way. It's more a part of our own language, really part of our vocabulary.' (Gilbert & George, quoted in Gilbert & George: The Complete Pictures 1971-1985, exh. cat., Bordeaux, CAPC Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, 1986, p. XXIX).