The Gilbert & George Centre, which is just around the corner from their iconic Fournier Street home, will open on April Fool’s Day
Legendary artists and Mangal regulars Gilbert & George have finally set an official opening date for their new museum dedicated to their own work: Saturday 1st April. The appropriately named Gilbert & George Centre will take over a large former industrial building that’s tucked behind a distinctive green gate (designed by the duo themselves) in their native Spitalfields.
The three-storey site will be open from Friday to Sunday and, in the spirit of their “art for all” ethos, entry will be free. Alongside exhibition spaces, there’ll be a research centre and a film room. The inaugural exhibition, THE PARADISICAL PICTURES, will feature works from their 2019 series that depict Gilbert & George in their “disquieting vision of a heavenly place”. This will coincide with the opening of another exhibition, THE CORPSING PICTURES, at the White Cube on 29th March.
Gilbert & George have been making art together since the 1960s when they met while both studying sculpture at St Martin’s School of Art, always contending that they aren’t collaborators: “We are two people, but one artist.” News that they would open their own centre has been kicking around for a while – the Heneage Street space was secured back in 2015 – and recently attracted criticism when the artists told the Financial Times that they felt there wasn’t room for their work in museums that are “woke”. Still, long-time fans (who won’t be surprised to hear their contrarian and controversial views) will undoubtedly be in attendance.
Stay in the loop…
Sign up to our drops & get us in your inbox.
We’ll be in your inbox every Wednesday at 11:30am.
Put the kettle on!
Opens Sat 1st April 2023
5a Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ
gilbertandgeorgecentre.org