TurnHurst

Nicholas and Sheila Pye (represented by Alexia Goethe Gallery in the UK) are a married couple who's work consists of videos, installations films and performances. By displaying their intimacy whilst making the viewer feel they are staring from the outside at their private business, the Pyes are largely interested with duality - sometimes discord, but more often harmony. They explore opposites and try to make a visual representation of the struggle to retain one's sense of self in a close relationship (especially in marriage, but i think this can also be true of many collaborations). Their relationship does not uphold traditional masculine and feminine roles, they both cross-dress and challenge eachothers status. In Stasis (2005) the artists are photographed in a grove of trees, both garbed in floral frocks as they each pull on the end of a rope - a sort of summer camp exercise in which neither is signified as vulnerable as the other.

Statis (2005)

Their last UK show @ AG featured this video; The Paper Wall which is typical of their recent, performative work. The artists are seperated by a thin wall, but are painfully aware of - and emotionally involved with one another.

By taking their married relationship as a focus is normally seen as very brave by art critics and artists alike, it's normally a taboo subject matter in contemporary art. The Pyes use it as a metaphor for power struggles and communication issues between two individuals. By blurring the borders between their lives and their art they tackle the poetic issues that arise from their own relationship. But it's not self-absorbed. The work becomes a representation of the things that can go wrong in a mutually dependant relationship.

Silent Flurry (2006)

Couples that address issues from their relationships are uncommon in contemporary art given the prevalance of the situation in modern life. Marina Ambramovic and Ulya collaboratively devled into performative rituals that explored individual artistic identity, creative ego and innate power struggles in a close relationship. Gilbert and George have for decades used their life within their art, performing together and designating themselves as living sculptures.