LONDON.- The Hayward Gallery will present Gilbert & George: 21ST CENTURY PICTURES, a landmark exhibition of art by the pioneering London-based artists (7 Oct 2025 – 11 Jan 2026). The presentation highlights Gilbert & George’s evolution over the past 25 years, exploring how technology has made their reflections of today’s society bigger and bolder than ever before. Transforming the space with over 60 floor-to-ceiling installations, the artists will debut new pictures alongside acclaimed pictures in a larger-than-life journey through the modern world as they see it.


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Gilbert & George are iconic artists, epitomised by their monumental commitment to being ‘living sculptures’ spanning the last five decades. Inspired by our modern world, they act as visual archaeologists of our times by capturing elements of our changing society. From newspaper headlines to road signs, postcards and overheard conversations, the artists blend images and text from everyday life to create vivid pictures that encourage dialogue about today’s social norms and taboos. The resulting art is often provocative and challenging in its refusal to deliver simple messages about sex, religion, class, nationalism, corruption and death.

Debuting two new works from their 2025 THE SCREW PICTURES, Gilbert & George’s pictures increasingly confront their own mortality. Surrounded by everyday objects gathered from their home and nearby streets - such as screws, nuts, bolts and twigs - the pictures show their attention turning inwards in recent years. Retaining their characteristic wit, the title plays on the multiple meanings of the word screw whilst finding inspiration in the shifting rhythms of later life.

The artists will also showcase pictures across key series made since 2000, such as NEW HORNY PICTURES (2001), THE LONDON PICTURES (2011), THE BEARD PICTURES (2016) and CORPSING PICTURES (2022). Tracing the increased scale and complexity of Gilbert & George’s work since 2000, the exhibition highlights how the artists began digitally distorting their pictures to conjure a vivid spectrum of anxieties, fears and desires.

Rachel Thomas, Roden Chief Curator of the Hayward Gallery, says: “Gilbert & George: 21ST CENTURY PICTURES reaffirms the artists’ singular position within the landscape of British art, exploring the complexities of human existence and confronting the social issues of our time. Speaking directly to the viewer, their images dismantle boundaries of class, culture, and taste, guided by an unwavering belief that art is for all. This exhibition is not only a celebration of their extraordinary practice across this millennium, but an invitation to step into the immersive and contradictory theatre of contemporary life—as only Gilbert & George can conjure it.”

Championing the motto ‘art for all’, Gilbert & George have rejected the notion that art requires knowledge of formal theory to be understood, instead encouraging viewers to respond emotionally and intellectually to their art and the attitudes it represents. As an open space for the nation’s enjoyment, the Southbank Centre similarly strives to spark new thinking about the society in which we operate by working with the leading artists of today.

Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, says: “The Southbank Centre is proud to welcome back the legendary cultural provocateurs Gilbert & George, 28 years after their last Hayward Gallery show. As a great disruptive force in Britain’s art industry, their work helps us look at the world around us afresh and reconsider the familiar - this time modern London - through their unique perspective. No art historical knowledge is needed and everyone is welcome - just bring yourself, be yourself, and think for yourself.”


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