It’s one of those early spring mornings where the sun is peeking through the clouds and nobody besides the weatherman can tell whether you’ll be absolutely freezing or perspiring beneath your coat. It transpires that today is most certainly the latter, but either way, standing outside a pair of great, vibrant green gates on Heneage Street in east London, Gilbert Prousch, 79, and George Passmore, 81, are in their trademark get-up: a pair of dashing, three-piece tweed suits. Across the road, a blonde woman is asking a man at the door of an Afro hairdresser why she can’t get her hair cut; there are builders buzzing around us nodding ‘alright, mate?’ at either Gilbert or George; and a van parked a few doors up is being filled with a household’s worldly possessions. ‘It looks like someone is moving,’ observes Gilbert.
The reason we’re here? Behind the elaborate green gates, hallmarked with two winding Gs and topped with King Charles’ royal crest, is The Gilbert & George Centre, a permanent celebration of the two artists’ 56-year career and the distinctive, daring work that made it. Complete with three galleries, a screening room, and a beloved Himalayan magnolia tree dedicated to their late friend and curator Ron Brownson, the centre is set to open to the public on 1 April, and feature an array of changing exhibitions intended to carry on their legacy and immortalise the pair long after they’ve checked out.
