Gilbert & George, City Lights (2013), all images courtesy White Cube
Now in their early seventies, the artist duo Gilbert & George have built a trademark artistic presence through their eccentric personas, often mocking British conservatism and aristocratic stereotypes. The duo’s artistic and romantic partnership has produced an ambitious body of work over the past 40-plus years, taking their home in London’s East End, with its multi-cultural and occasionally chaotic atmosphere as a home and inspiration for their politically and socially engaged practice. Extending this practice, White Cube’s Bermondsey gallery is presenting an exhibition of the duo’s recent large-scale photomontages, collaging London streets with images of the dup. Scapegoating Pictures for London, containing over sixty pieces of predominantly black, red and white works, delivers the duo’s profoundly satirical and often provocative tone, triggering concerns over terrorism, globalism, surveillance and religion in a massive and ever-shifting urban landscape. (more…)