Gillie and Marc

Gillie and Marc Schattner are an Australian collaborative artist couple. Gillie and Marc are known for their animal, human-animal hybrid and abstract sculptures,[1][2] which have been exhibited as public works of art around the world.[3][4][5] They also create paintings, street art and statues of people.

Gillie and Marc
Gillie and Marc with their dog Indie in their home, 2017
Websitegillieandmarc.com

Art career

Gillie and Marc created and placed a big sculpture of The Last Three Northern white rhinoceros, in Astor Place. Art critic Jerry Saltz called their work "a kitschy monstrosity," and said that it "proves my adage that 95 percent of all public sculpture is crap."[6]

Marc studied graphic design at Swinburne, Melbourne, while Gillie received no formal art training.[7] 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.[8] 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,[9][10] and the nude figures have generated controversy.[11]

Public sculptures
A Paparazzi Dog, on permanent display in Hunter Street, Newcastle, Australia

In 2013, Gillie and Marc created a series of sculptures depicting a dog holding a camera, which were exhibited in Melbourne, Sydney,[12] Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and New York City.

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.[13][14] On March 14, 2018, the 17-feet tall sculpture was unveiled[15] representing Sudan, Najin and Fatu - the last three Northern White Rhinos.[16] Coincidentally, three days after the installation of The Last Three, Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino died. Flowers were brought to the sculpture's base.[17][18][6]

On Women's Equality Day (August 26) 2019 a group of 10 commissioned bronze sculptures were unveiled at 1285 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. All the pieces were created by Gillie and Marc. The 10 sculptures depict Oprah Winfrey, P!nk, Nicole Kidman, Jane Goodall, Cate Blanchett, Tererai Trent, Janet Mock, Tracy Dyson, Cheryl Strayed, and Gabby Douglas.[19]

Gillie and Marc created the Statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- a bronze sculpture of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The statue was created in 2019, with Ginsburg's cooperation, as part of their installation "Statues for Equality." The statue will be installed permanently on March 15, 2021, at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City.[20][21][22]

Other Rhino sculptures have been installed in city of Dubbo, Australia,[23] La Trobe University,[24] 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.[25][26] They have also made sculptures of lions, tigers, and other animals.

New York City Chinatown controversy

In 2018 they gained attention and controversy for two public sculptures in New York City.[27][28]

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.[29]

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.” [30]

Personal life

Gillie and Marc met in 1990 during a film shoot in Hong Kong, where Gillie was a model and Marc was the creative director. She is Catholic and he is Jewish.[31] They married through a Hindu ceremony seven days later.[31] They have lived in Singapore, New York, and now live in Sydney.[8][32]

References
  1. Small, Zachary (3 January 2018). "How Paparazzi Dogs and Rabbitgirl Conquered New York City Streets; Going around the traditional gatekeepers, Gillie and Marc Schattner of Australia have become the city's most prolific creators of public art". New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. "These Artists Want to Save the Rhinos.... by Building the World's Biggest Rhino Sculpture | artnet News". artnet News. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  3. Schattner, Gillie Marc; Suckling, Lee (December 2013). Gillie and Marc: 20 years of marriage and art. ISBN 9780646907536.
  4. "Sit Alongside Rabbitgirl and Dogman at Gillie and Marc's 'Table of Love'". Untapped Cities. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  5. "Art Month Sydney 2018 | Gillie and Marc". www.artmonthsydney.com.au. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  6. Saltz, Jerry. "The New Astor Place Rhino Sculpture Is a Kitschy Monstrosity". Vulture. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  7. "Featured Artist Interview - Gillie and Marc". Design Taxi. 29 June 2009.
  8. "Archibald Prize Archibald 2006 finalist: John and his black dog by Gillie and Marc Schattner". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  9. "Thieves filmed stealing dog statue". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  10. "$10,000 reward for stolen dog statue". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  11. Fortescue, Elizabeth. "Statue cops a bum wrap". The Daily Telegraph Australia. The Daily Telegraph Australia. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  12. "Police recover $25,000 sculpture from art thief". Daily Telegraph (Australia). 21 February 2017.
  13. "These Artists Want to Save the Rhinos. How? By Building the World's Biggest Rhino Sculpture". Artnet. 31 May 2017.
  14. "The biggest rhino sculpture in the world is coming to Astor Place next year". Time Out. 30 May 2017.
  15. "Rhino Statue Installed At Astor Place". East Village, NY Patch. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  16. "Statue honoring trio of rare rhinos coming to NYC". New York Post. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  17. "Here's everything you need to know about that massive rhino statue at Astor Place". Time Out New York. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  18. "White Northern Rhino Honored In Astor Place Statue Has Died". East Village, NY Patch. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  19. Saraniero, Nicole (26 August 2019). "New Statues for Equality Rise Along 6th Avenue". Untapped New York. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  20. Kimberly Dole. "Statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be unveiled during Women's History Month in March," WBBM News Radio.
  21. Duggan, Kevin (13 October 2020). "Statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg planned for Downtown Brooklyn". amNewYork. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  22. "Ginsburg statue coming to Brooklyn during Women's History Month in 2021". www.msn.com. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  23. "Dubbo's Rhino Sculptures". dubbo.com.au. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  24. "Rhinos relocate to La Trobe". La Trobe University. 22 September 2015.
  25. "Sculpture by the Sea's Buried Rhino: artists offer iconic sculpture as gift to Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 November 2016.
  26. picketstudio.com (8 November 2016). "People's Choice Award & Kids' Choice Award Winner Announced!: - Sculpture by the Sea". Sculpture by the Sea. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  27. "– Sculpture to Celebrate Year of the Dog Stirs Controversy in Chinatown". voicesofny.org. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  28. ""Dog-man" makes few friends in Chinatown". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  29. ""Dog-man" makes few friends in Chinatown | Manhattan, New York, NY | Local News". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  30. ""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. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  31. Lacey, Stephen (8 October 2016). "Gillie and Marc: the couple who created Dogman and Rabbitgirl". Retrieved 17 July 2017 – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  32. "A Couple That Paints Together, Stays Together". Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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