La vie en rose: 40 years of Pierre et Gilles – in pictures

From Boy George crossed with Krishna to Serge Gainsbourg as an imprisoned Santa, a new book traces four decades of brilliant images from the photographer and painter couple Pierre and Gilles

Main image: Funny Balls (2012) Model: Marc Jacobs Created for Man About Town magazine Jacques-Antoine Granjon collection, Paris Photograph: Pierre et Gilles/Courtesy Galerie Templon, Paris and Brussels

  • Iggy Pop (1977). Model: Iggy Pop, created for Façade magazine

    French artists Pierre and Gilles have been together for 40 years, making a dizzying array of fantastical tableaux with stars of stage and screen since they met in the 1970s. Pierre et Gilles: 40 is published by Flammarion with Galerie Daniel Templon.All photographs: © Pierre et Giles/Galerie Templon
    Iggy Pop (1977) Model: Iggy Pop Created for Façade magazine Private collection, New York

  • Gainsbarre (1988). Model: Serge Gainsbourg, cover of Télérama magazine

    Pierre Commoy settled in Paris in 1972 following military service, and via nights out alongside the likes of Grace Jones and David Bowie at the Le Sept nightclub, began publishing his photos in fashion magazines
    Gainsbarre (1988) Model: Serge Gainsbourg Cover of Télérama magazine Nathalie Rheims and Léo Scheer collection, Paris

  • A Lover Spurned (1989). Models: Marc Almond and Marie-France Garcia, record sleeve of Marc Almond’s A Lover Spurned

    Gilles Blanchard studied painting in his childhood home of Le Havre, then moved to Paris, where he too immersed himself in the underground
    A Lover Spurned (1989) Models: Marc Almond and Marie-France Garcia Record sleeve of Marc Almond’s A Lover Spurned Private collection

  • Paloma Picasso (1990). Model: Paloma Picasso, cover of Jardin des Modes magazine

    Gilles had a been collecting photo-booth pictures since he was 16. After meeting Pierre, these pictures would become the first of the couple’s artistic preoccupations
    Paloma Picasso (1990) Model: Paloma Picasso Cover of Jardin des Modes magazine Private collection, courtesy Noirmontartproduction, Paris

  • Jean-Paul Gaultier (1990). Model: Jean-Paul Gaultier, book cover of À Nous Deux la Mode by Patrick Rambaud and Jean-Paul Gaultier

    Gilles knew illustrator Phillippe Morillon, who held infamous parties at his apartment. It was at one of these that Gilles met Robert Mapplethorpe, with whom he would travel across the US
    Jean-Paul Gaultier (1990) Model: Jean-Paul Gaultier Book cover of À Nous Deux la Mode by Patrick Rambaud and Jean-Paul Gaultier Private collection

  • En Plein Coeur (Right Through the Heart) (2016). Model: TOP (Choi Seung-Hyun)

    On his travels with Mapplethorpe, Gilles said: ‘Through the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, we traveled all the way down to Los Angeles in a splendid white Cadillac convertible’
    En plein coeur (Right Through the Heart) (2016) Model: T.O.P. (Choi Seung-Hyun)

  • Krishna (1989). Model: Boy George, created for Blitz magazine

    Pierre and Gilles met in September 1976 at the launch of Kenzo’s first boutique in Paris
    Krishna (1989) Model: Boy George Created for Blitz magazine Private collection

  • Portrait de Lady Swinton (1996). Model: Tilda Swinton

    They travelled the world together and reflected their global outlook in their art. Proudly exotic, their work drew on influences from all continents, including artists from the Arab world such as Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez and Farid al-Atrash
    Portrait de Lady Swinton (Portrait of Lady Swinton) (1996) Model: Tilda Swinton Sanziany collection, Vienna

  • Le Dahlia noir (2003). Model: Dita von Teese

    The couple’s practice originally involved Pierre taking the photographs and Gilles painting over them – they later collaborated on immaculately designed and realised photographic scenes
    Le Dahlia noir (The Black Dahlia) (2003) Model: Dita von Teese Galerie Andrea Caratsch, St. Moritz

  • Ophélie (2012). Model: Isabelle Huppert

    The pair’s style is instantly recognisable, combining kitsch, beauty, and aspirational dreamscapes
    Ophélie (Ophelia) (2012) Model: Isabelle Huppert Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris

  • Funny Balls (2012). Model: Marc Jacobs, created for Man About Town magazine

    The two never use PhotoShop, an act of resistance against technology that emphasises their skills in production design
    Funny Balls (2012) Model: Marc Jacobs Created for Man About Town magazine Jacques-Antoine Granjon collection, Paris

  • Crazy Love (2014). Model: Conchita Wurst, created for the Crazy Horse cabaret, Paris

    Jeff Koons believes the pair have shaped culture as we know it today: ‘It’s hard to think of contemporary culture without the influence of Pierre et Gilles, from advertising to fashion photography, music video, and film. Their highly saturated images, making reference to art history and religious iconography, create a visual impact that transcends cultures around the world. This is truly global art’
    Crazy Love (2014) Model: Conchita Wurst Created for the Crazy Horse cabaret, Paris Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris
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