An
eight meter bright red enamel sculpture will photograph the guest as they enter
the foyer of the soon be opened Four
Seasons Hotel in Beijing. Paparazi
Boy is a dogman hybrid cameraman with an impeccably sculptured body –
boasting an enviable ‘six pack’ - and is the latest commissioned installation
by award winning and internationally acclaimed artists, Gillie and Marc
Schattner.
Fusing
surrealism with a biographical narrative, and a splash of tragicomic controversy,
their art truly captivates, pushing way beyond conventional thought and
traditional paradigms. Their unique way
of commenting on life, love and humankind has drawn praise and interest from
around the globe.
For
more than twenty years Gillie and Marc have been crafting their work in a way
that truly reflects the uniqueness of their art. Gillie stands on the left and Marc on the
right and together they paint and sculpt.
It is an incredibly connected synergy producing art that transcends
boundaries and challenges traditional protocols, and conservative thought.
Gillie
and Marc's unparalleled love is the cornerstone of what they are and of what
they create. Meeting in Hong Kong, she
was a nurse from England and he, a boy from the 'burbs' of Melbourne. Wanting
only to find a soul-mate with which to share their passions for art, travel and
adventure, seven days later they were married at the foothills of Mount Everest. They not only share an unsurpassed dedication
to their art but also love for their two children, whom Gillie describes as
their 'best friends' - along with their mutt, Moby, of course.
Studying
art during their youths, Gillie and Marc were both profoundly influenced
by famed French sculptor Rodin, whose work they considered to be avant-garde,
as well as Picasso, Magritte, Dali and the Colombian sculptor Botero. In more
recent years the works of British artist Damian Hirst, have fascinated and
inspired them.
Initially,
Gillie and Marc painted and designed, but have moved deeply into sculpture - giant
gobsmacking sculpture, creating commissioned works for: Australia Zoo; Sydney
Children's Hospital; Australian Red Cross Blood Service; Hilton Hotel Singapore;
and McDonald's Corporate Headquarters in Singapore; and recently the Ying Ren Four
Seasons Hotel in Beijing. They enjoy crafting in all sculpture mediums
including bronze, brass, steel, wood, fibreglass and polyresin.
Awards
and accolades are numerous for the Schattner’s.
In 2006 they were Archibald Prize finalists. He'll never be famous
but he doesn't give a damn, he's a musician, a painting, earned them first
prize at the 2009 Chianciano Biennale, set in Tuscany. This work features a
Dalmatian dog/man hybrid, playing guitar. Their life-like fibreglass sculptural
piece, Bondi Coffee Dog, appeared in the Florence Biennale in the same
year.
Stretching
controversy further is their work, If Jesus was alive today he would be a
skateboarder, which featured in the inaugural 2009 Blake Prize
Director's Cut, an online exhibition. Gillie and Marc will also feature work in the
2012 public exhibition of Sculptures by
the Sea at Bondi Beach.
But
what does their post-modern blend of ‘tragicomic chic’ art mean?
In
Gillie and Marc's work we see a rare fusion of man and nature. Gillie and Marc emphatically believe that man
has become disconnected from his environment, destroying it. They remain hopeful and dream of reconciliation. Man's best friend is his dog, always has been
and always will be and for Gillie and Marc, he is more than just a companion. Dog is a means to express, comment and explore
life, man, what he was, what he has become, and what he can be. Creating a hybrid dogman, the head is the dog
and the body the man – not surprising - Gillie and Marc share optimism that man
and nature can live in the future, the way they were intended. Given the dog is an animal who is intimately
involved in our world; he is an ideal "bridge" to nature.
But for Gillie and Marc, their dogman needed
a companion and so he chose a rabbit-woman. In nature the dog is a predator of the rabbit,
but in Gillie’s and Marc's world they create a profound and harmonious
relationship, to express that the impossible is possible - creating a
language of hope and dreams. Animal Attraction has been a
biographical collection of paintings and bronze sculptures that celebrates
love, partnership and creativity, as the dog and rabbit continue their adventure
into the imagination.
Gillie’s and Marc's iconic and now infamous giant
Good Boy sculpture depicts a hybrid
dogman crouched on all fours, holding a cup of coffee. It challenges us to enjoy the simple
pleasures in life, to just enjoy what is right in front of us. For the Schattner’s, they believe that the
dog brings out our humanity. Good Boy is a flawlessly created nude
but despite the forty centimetre phallus, it is not gratuitous pornography but
a celebration of nature and the human form drawn out from us by the dog.
If Jesus was alive today he would be a
skateboarder, simply and intricately
lifelike, recreates Jesus riding a skateboard.
When Jesus walked the earth he was a youthful rebel. A simple carpenter, Jesus hung out with
outcasts, and was seen by most of society, as a misfit. He spoke to small
crowds and pushed his ideas principally through twelve young men. He had ideas
of a better way of life and chose to demonstrate those ideas by living that
life. So if he was around today, he would probably do the same. Jesus would be
a skateboarder.
Riding a rhinoceros, their ‘dogman’ is the subject matter for another awesome
sculpture, The journey of two minds.
Only man is responsible for threatening this harmless herbivore, as in nature
no animal hunts the rhino. Riding the rhino, dogman has united himself with
nature and can now unite himself with the rhino.
Once again, in their statuesque six metre
towering sculpture of a naked dogman kneeling down and eating an ice-cream, He didn’t know at the time, but years from now, he would look back and
realise that this was the happiest day of his life, the Schattner’s beckon
us to return to enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
Corporate Dog dresses their dogman in a
business suit. Globally we tackle environmental issues
and wrestle with corporations and countries to adopt better ideals to help save
our planet. However, we can’t even pick up our own dog droppings, which in
fact, cause more harm to the environment that we don’t even consider. By dressing their dogman in a business suit, Gillie
and Marc challenge the corporate world to preserve our environment.
As
contemporary artists, the Schattner’s believe it is the duty of an artist to
push boundaries, to challenge the status quo and effect change. In 2005 these
two delectable artists created the exhibition Life Can’t Wait, which featured twelve Australian's whose lives
could be saved or improved with an organ or tissue transplant. The exhibition
toured Australia raising awareness.
Gillie
believes that:
'We,
the contemporary artist pull apart the world, so it can be put back together as
something different.' Gillie
maintains that they hope to encourage people to ‘‘start thinking more like a dog’’. ‘‘Turn off your phone, switch off
Twitter, have a roll in the grass and honour the spirit of the dog to show us a
better way of being a human.’’
