Free Gilbert & George exhibition at The Atkinson, 7 November to 20 February, the first in the North West for 30 years. Open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

Gilbert & George, the Turner Prize winners of 1986, are coming to The Atkinson on Lord Street. A free exhibition of their work opens on Saturday 7 November and runs until Saturday 20 February 2027, and the gallery says it is the first time in over 30 years that an exhibition of the artists’ work has been shown in the North West of England.

The show, ARTIST ROOMS: Gilbert & George, is drawn from a national collection jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland, and was announced by The Atkinson today.

What is in it

Gilbert, born in 1943, and George, born in 1942, have worked as a single artist for nearly 60 years. The release describes large, often vividly coloured works that combine photography, text and found objects, and themes that keep coming back: religion, sexuality, race and identity, and “the tensions and desires generated by life in the modern metropolis”.

The Southport exhibition covers the whole span. It includes:

  • The Nature of Our Looking, 1970, a charcoal-on-paper sculpture the gallery calls rarely seen.
  • Two early video works, Gordon’s Makes Us Drunk, 1972 and In the Bush, 1972.
  • The 1969 “magazine sculpture”, in which the pair smile out at the viewer with cut-out letters pinned to their chests.
  • Large multi-part colour pieces, among them EXISTERS, 1984 and FAITH DROP, 1991.
EXISTERS, 1984, by Gilbert & George: a large multi-panel grid of brightly coloured photographs of young men and boys, with George in glasses and a blue suit and Gilbert in a yellow suit seated among them, and the title EXISTERS lettered in the bottom right corner
EXISTERS, 1984, one of the works named in the Southport show. Image: supplied by The Atkinson. ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland © Gilbert and George. Courtesy of The Gilbert & George Centre / Photo © National Galleries of Scotland

The idea that ties it together is what the artists call “living sculpture”: they put themselves and their own lives into the work as its subject. The release says that is how they “provoke, and question social convention and taboo”, and that the 1969 magazine piece shows their early stress on self-image, on being outsiders, and on their guiding principle of “art for all”.

The Nature of Our Looking, 1970, by Gilbert & George: five large sepia charcoal drawings on paper hung side by side, showing woodland, a river and two men in suits walking through the landscape, with lines of hand-lettered text along the bottom
The Nature of Our Looking, 1970, the charcoal-on-paper sculpture in the exhibition. Image: supplied by The Atkinson. Tate © Gilbert and George. Courtesy of The Gilbert & George Centre / Photo © Tate

What the people behind it say

Councillor Liz Dowd, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Partnership Engagement, called it a coup for the town:

“Hosting this exhibition of works by two of the country’s most renowned artists, Gilbert & George, is a real coup for The Atkinson and for Southport. Each year, The Atkinson attracts over 400,000 visitors, making it one of the most significant cultural destinations in the Liverpool City Region. This ARTIST ROOMS exhibition in the autumn is, no doubt, going to add to the number of those visitors to the gallery and the town.”

Jemma Tynan, Exhibitions and Learning Officer at The Atkinson, said:

“To welcome the work of Gilbert & George to The Atkinson is a very special moment for us. Their bold vision has shaped contemporary art for decades, and we are delighted to be working with ARTIST ROOMS to give our visitors the chance to experience these incredible works. I am sure everyone is going to enjoy seeing these ‘larger-than-life’ works in a truly memorable exhibition!”

Ceri Lewis, Senior Curator of ARTIST ROOMS at Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland, tied it back to the artists’ own motto:

“Gilbert & George championed ‘art for all’, wanting their art to speak directly to people about their life. Connecting people with art is the mission of ARTIST ROOMS, and we are passionate that our national collections can be seen and shared right across the country because they exist for the benefit of everyone. We want more people to have the opportunity to experience world-class art by the leading artists of today, and through partnerships such as this with The Atkinson, create space for curiosity and imagination, delight and debate. This exhibition is an open invitation to enter the world of Gilbert & George, and to confront our own attitudes to the social norms and taboos of contemporary life in the company of the legendary cultural provocateurs, where their only ask is to think and feel for yourself.”

CRUSADE, 1980, by Gilbert & George: a grid of panels in yellow and deep red, with George on the left and Gilbert on the right seated behind wooden chairs on either side of a pair of red doors, and a label reading CRUSADE, Gilbert and George, 1980
CRUSADE, 1980, by Gilbert & George. Image: supplied by The Atkinson. ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland © Gilbert and George. Courtesy of The Gilbert & George Centre / Photo © National Galleries of Scotland

Where the work comes from

ARTIST ROOMS tours single-artist exhibitions from the collection Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland own together. According to the release, the collection was founded through the d’Offay Donation in 2008, and since 2009 some 220 ARTIST ROOMS exhibitions have been shown at nearly 100 museums and galleries around the UK, with 60 million visitors. The programme is supported by Art Fund, the Henry Moore Foundation and National Lottery money through Arts Council England and Creative Scotland. More on the programme is at artistrooms.org.

What it means for you

  • When: Saturday 7 November 2026 to Saturday 20 February 2027.
  • Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Closed on bank holidays.
  • Price: free entry.
  • Where: The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport, PR9 9AQ. Southport Library and a café run by Autism Initiatives UK are in the same building.
  • Content: the themes listed by the gallery include religion and sexuality; the release does not give an age guidance, so check with The Atkinson before bringing younger children.

Driving in? Our Southport parking page has the car parks near Lord Street. For more to do in town this autumn, see what’s on in Southport and things to do in Southport.