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