Gilbert & George describe themselves as "two people, one artist." The British artists -- we'll use the plural here to avoid confusion -- met at St. Martins School of Art in London in 1967 and have been together, personally, professionally and artistically, ever since.

"We have a shared sense of purpose," explains George at a reception at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where their exhibit, "Gilbert & George" is on display through Sept. 1. "We don't think about it, we don't talk about it; we just work."

For 40 years their art has expressed empathy with the disenfranchised of the world, and is known for taking on big-picture, often controversial subjects like race, religion, sex, money and power.

"That's all there is in the world," says George of his work's scope. "Everything we photograph has a meaning -- we don't just do this for aesthetics."

The mixed media large-scale images are bold statements of discontent, beginning in the early days with black and white photography and graphics and evolving into splashes of bright colors that reflect the rich emotions surrounding terrorism, faith - -even the insecurity of bodily functions. Some consider it shocking; others consider it real.

"They revolutionized the use of photography in visual art," says Tate's Jan Debbaut, who curated the exhibit with Ben Borthwick. "Their work stays actual today and comments on the vulnerability of the human condition. It affects us not just as art lovers, but as human beings."

With more than 45 pieces from 1971 to present day, the MAM exhibition is their largest showing of mounted art and encompasses, for the first time, the museum's entire first floor. Milwaukee is their only Midwest stop -- and one of only three venues in North America -- on an international tour that began at Tate Modern in London and moved on to Has der Kunst in Munich and Castello de Rivoli in Turin.

The exhibit includes new works that were created specifically for the Milwaukee gallery, which they visited last for a show in the winter of 1986.

"We work opposite the way an art director works," explains Gilbert. "We design (an exhibit) with the viewers in mind. We have five minutes to seduce them, and if they leave the gallery, we've lost them forever."

Physically represented in nearly all their works, Gilbert & George took to calling themselves "living sculptures," and, leaving art school in 1969, they devised the Four Laws of Sculptor:

1. Always be smartly dressed, well groomed, relaxed, friendly, polite and in complete control.
2. Make the world to believe in you and to pay heavily for this privilege.
3. Never worry, assess, discuss or criticize, but remain quiet, respectful and calm.
4. The Lord chisels still, so don't leave your bench for long.

They've lived by these rules ever since and now present the world with a complete retrospective of their iconic lives as international art explorers.

Related events:

• Gallery Talks with MAM chief curator Joe Ketner
  Tuesdays, June 17, July 15 & Aug. 19 at 1:30 p.m.
• Gilbert & George and the London scene
  Tuesday, July 22 at 1: 30 p.m.
  Former MAM director David Gordon shares his experiences living in London during the artists' heyday.
• Ms. Ruthie does Gilbert & George
  Saturday, Aug. 9 at 2 p.m.
  "Outbound Magazine" columnist Ms. Ruthie talks about Gilbert & George.
• What do you get when you cross
  Friday, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m.
  Cedar Block asked Milwaukee artists to respond to submitted jokes to address larger life issues.