Gilbert & George: The Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Exhibition 2022

Often controversial, sometimes cheeky and always questioning, British artists Gilbert & George have been creating art together ever since they met in 1967 at one of London’s leading art schools. From the very beginning, they have appeared as subjects in their own art and shared a belief in ‘Art for all’.

For Gilbert & George anything – and everything – is a potential subject matter for art. They have peered closely at the big questions of life: religion, sex, violence, hope, addiction and death. Through their films and ‘LIVING SCULPTURE’, they have challenged taboos, fought artistic convention and taken a fresh look at the way we live now. From their own bodies to their long-time home in London’s East End, nothing is too personal or too forbidden for these two artists whose work is a portrait of life today.

Developed exclusively with Gilbert & George by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki with co-ordinating curator, Matthias Arndt, and venue coordinator, Ron Brownson, The Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Exhibition 2022 brings together existing and new work from the 21st century. Presented with the support of the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation and Cordis Auckland, it looks back over a joint career that has courted controversy, challenged the status quo and championed alternative views. Exhibiting work direct from Gilbert & George’s own personal collection, it brings some of the most exciting of British art to New Zealand for the very first time.

This exhibition contains some content that may cause offence.

Image credit: Gilbert & George Union Dance (detail) 2008, Courtesy ARNDT Collection