Review: Gilbert and George White Cube

Famously, Gilbert and George have lived in the same house for 45 years. That house is on Fournier Street, the link between Old Spitalfields Market and Brick Lane, and a great vantage point from which to witness the changing face of London. Over the past two decades the area has turned from grungy, deprived backwater to hipster heartland to beery stag-do destination. All the while, they have remained steadfastly, stubbornly the same in their tweed suits. As constants amid flux, they’re uniquely placed to commentate on social and cultural changes. 

Scapegoating Pictures at White Cube is their latest attempt to chart those changes. Photographs and collages depict a fragmented and confrontational London, a London full of blame about to tip over into violence. The central motif is a laughing gas canister, sinisterly recast as a bomb. It’s typically iconoclastic stuff from Gilbert and George, and while it is unlikely to win them any new fans, it’s good to the see them on cuttingly moralistic form once again.