Arch tricksters Gilbert & George have an in-depth survey of their work at the Hayward Gallery showing how they’ve reflected on modern life over the last five decades. Thrilling, bold and wry their work has equally titillated and shocked audiences questioning not only ‘knowledge’ as a prerequisite of art appreciation but even taste itself. Paradise and poison mixed in equal measures viewers can investigate the presence and influence of these singular artists.
Exhibition Notes: Gilbert & George, 21st Century Pictures, 2025
“WE LOVE 21ST CENTURY. IT IS OUR BEST CENTURY SO FAR!” – Gilbert & George.
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.
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.”
Gilbert & George will also join forces with the Philharmonia Orchestra, one of the Southbank Centre’s Resident Orchestras, for Gilbert & George: Sex, Money, Race, Religion at the Hayward Gallery: a classical performance in celebration of their work on 5 Oct 2025.
Gilbert & George: 21ST CENTURY PICTURES is curated by Hayward Gallery Roden Chief Curator, Rachel Thomas, with Assistant Curators, Suzanna Petot and Hannah Martin, and Curatorial Assistant, Ananya Jain. This exhibition is supported by Lehmann Maupin, Thaddaeus Ropac and White Cube.
© Gilbert & George. Courtesy the artists and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London.
Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery, says: “In tracing how Gilbert & George’s art has continued to evolve and develop in bold new directions over the past 25 years, this exhibition highlights their remarkable resilience, unflagging creative energy, and their profound commitment to exploring – from their own idiosyncratic perspective – the changing cultural landscape of 21st century London. As always, their art incisively probes the relationship between individual identity and larger social formations – including religion, nationalism,and legalised codes of morality. Over the years, it increasingly confronts us with disturbing signs of the times, providing some of the most direct and provocative societal portraits of this era.”
There will be a fully illustrated catalogue to accompany the show, with in-depth texts by Michael Bracewell and Rachel Thomas, plus a new interview with the artists with Hans-Ulrich Obrist.
Gilbert & George: 21ST CENTURY PICTURES
7 October 2025 – 4 January 2026
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX Full price standard: £20
Concessions available & Southbank Centre Members go free
The Hayward Gallery opening times:
Tue – Fri, 10am – 6pm
Sat, 10am – 8pm
Sun, 10am – 6pm
Further information: www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Twitter: @haywardgallery Instagram: @hayward.gallery
Facebook: www.facebook.com/haywardgallery/
Images Courtesy of the artists, Hayward Gallery and as stated.
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
