Gillie and Marc

Gillie and Marc is the creation of Gillian Schattner and Marc Schatter, Sydney-based Australan contemporary artists who have worked side by side for over 25 years. The husband and wife team promote themselves with the sculptural characters, Rabbitgirl and Dogman.^[1]

Personal life

Paparazzi Dogs at Federation Square.

Gillian and Marc Schattner met in Hong Kong in 1990. At the time Gillian Schattner was a trained nurse, artist and illustrator from England. Marc Schattner was an artist from Melbourne working as a Creative Director in an advertising agency. They married one week after meeting in a Hindi ceremony in the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal. The couple lived in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York before settling in Sydney. They now live in Sydney with their two children: Jessie born in 1991, and Ben, born in 1995.^[2][3][4]

Art career

The Travellers have Arrived at Sculpture by the Sea 2012.

The Schattners first exhibited as a pair in Singapore in 1990 with a show entitled A Blue Eye View of Singapore. They continued to exhibit together in New York. 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 with a portrait of former Olympic swimmer John Konrads next to the Black Dog of Depression to symbolise his battle with bi-polar disorder.^[5] Their hybrid characters, featuring animal heads on human bodies, first emerged with their fibreglass sculpture Good Boy in 2005 before the exhibition I love my dog and my dog loves me. The character of Dogman was joined by Rabbitgirl in the artists’ work in 2011.^[6]

Public Art

Run For Your Lives at Federation Square.

The artists have been creating public sculptures for over ten years and have collaborated with over 50 councils and governments worldwide.^[7]

• Coffee Drinkers (2013) Rundle Mall, SA.^[8]
• Fetch Boy (2010) Maitland Regional Gallery, NSW.^[9]
• Happy Birthday Mr President xo (2013), Salamanca Square, TAS.^[10]
• Paparazzi Dogs - DUMBO, New York, US.^[11][12][13]
• Pit Pony (2014), Collinsville, QLD.^[14]
• Run for your lives (2015), La Trobe University, NSW.^[15]
• Tandem Riders (2012), Perth, WA.^[16]
• The Travellers Have Arrived (2012) McClelland Sculpture Park, VIC.^[17]

Controversy

The town of Forbes, New South Wales, Australia loaned the Schattner's sculpture Pyramid for one year following a public sculpture exhibition. The sculpture featured the artists' signature characters, Dogman and Rabbitgirl, nude and posing in a pyramid formation. It caused controversy in the town with some labelling the work as obscene. This led to The Daily Telegraph article Statue cops a bum wrap as Forbes locals demolish artistic merit of The Pyramid. Following the incident the artists donated the work to Forbes.^[18]

In 2013 the artists promoted an edition of Lost Dog fibreglass sculptures by placing 100 of them in various locations around Sydney; some hidden and some in plain sight.^[19] All but three of the sculptures were stolen within one month creating considerable publicity.^[20]

References