Sex, Money, Race, Religion: inside the art and studio of Gilbert & George

Ahead of their 2025 Hayward Gallery exhibition, 21ST CENTURY PICTURES, artists Gilbert & George led us on a tour of the Fournier Street studio in east London that they’ve called home since the 1960s.

We get a glimpse of some of the artists’ collections; of found items – in this case leaves lifted from the streets of Spitalfields – and of pottery, the ‘one or two thousand vases’ of which they feel offer a means of relaxation. The pair also stop by their wall of ‘friends and acquaintances’ – among whom they ‘don’t discriminate’ – and showcase the specially designed gates of their recently opened east London arts foundation.

Gilbert & George also talk about their love for the Hayward Gallery, and show how they approach large-scale exhibitions of their work, such as their upcoming show, by first making a maquette of the exhibition space and then adding miniature versions of their pictures to the model’s walls.

And as we move around the Georgian terrace in the company of the artists they also discuss the mystery of making pictures, the forces that drive them, why they have always chosen to be part of their art, and the impact of the progression of time on the evolution of their work.