Gilbert & George are excited. And proud. And smell so good that I’m tempted to ask what colognes they’re wearing. We’ve all just arrived at the Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank, where their forthcoming show, 21st Century Pictures, is mid-hang. As soon as we’re through the doors, Gilbert darts about like a puppy let off the leash, urgently assessing the installation. “White Bastards!” George says to me, pointing to the 2004 piece as though he’s just spotted an old friend.
The artists may be in their 80s, but all the work here was made in the last 25 years, and the gallery vibrates with rudeness, colour, contrarianism and cheek, their often vast creations luxuriating, as always, in warts-and-all humanity.
