The Gilbert & George Centre in London debuts a powerful exhibition, DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR…, on May 16th, 2025. This highly anticipated Gilbert & George exhibition brings together 18 pivotal works created between 1984 and 1998, marking a significant chapter in the artists’ ongoing exploration of the human condition.
At the heart of the Gilbert & George exhibition is the monumental four-panel work DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR, on loan from Tate. The show expands with key pieces from the artists’ NEW DEMOCRATIC PICTURES and RUDIMENTARY PICTURES series—together forming a visceral journey through the emotional and moral extremes of contemporary life.
Known for their conceptual rigor and unapologetic honesty, Gilbert & George delve into what they call “universal truths”—themes completed by the viewer’s personal engagement. In the NEW DEMOCRATIC PICTURES, first exhibited in 1992, Gilbert & George appear naked, using their own bodies as visual and symbolic material. Works like CITYDROP plunge the viewer into surreal, fragmented urban realities marked by tension and vulnerability.
The RUDIMENTARY PICTURES, created in 1998, push this rawness further. Gilbert & George abandon their familiar suits to become ghostlike figures adrift in chaotic, dreamlike settings. These images often incorporate magnified bodily fluids, transforming the intimate into the monumental. With a palette of vivid reds, yellows, and blues, Gilbert & George amplify the psychological and artificial heat of city life.
Housed in the Gilbert & George Centre, the exhibition also features HOPE, part of THE 1984 PICTURES, on view in the Main Gallery throughout the exhibition. For artists, each artwork offers a “particular view” meant to be reinterpreted through individual experience.
DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR… runs until February 2026 at the Gilbert & George Centre, coinciding with Gilbert & George: 21st Century Pictures at the Hayward Gallery, opening in October 2025. With its blend of provocation, vulnerability, and graphic intensity, this Gilbert & George exhibition is a landmark moment in the artists’ evolving legacy.
Read our interview with Gilbert & George as they unpack the power of humanism, the myth of the artist’s image, and their relationship with time.
DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR… at The GILBERT & GEORGE CENTRE
Photography by PRUDENCE CUMING ASSOCIATES, courtesy of THE GILBERT & GEORGE CENTRE
DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR… at The GILBERT & GEORGE CENTRE
Photography by PRUDENCE CUMING ASSOCIATES, courtesy of THE GILBERT & GEORGE CENTRE
DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR… at The GILBERT & GEORGE CENTRE
Photography by PRUDENCE CUMING ASSOCIATES, courtesy of THE GILBERT & GEORGE CENTRE
CITYDROP, 1991
Courtesy of GILBERT & GEORGE
Photography by PRUDENCE CUMING ASSOCIATES
DEATH HOPE LIFE FEAR – 4. FEAR