Our George Crompton, WORLDS and WINDOWS by Gilbert & George Solo exhibition at The Gilbert & George Centre
“The most famous Crompton in history is, not surprisingly, the author of the Just William books (Richmal Crompton). The other Crompton, our George, was a little bit like the character in the book. Naughty but nice. He's living on in the pictures.” – Gilbert & George, 2026
The Gilbert & George Centre presents ‘Our George Crompton, WORLDS and WINDOWS by Gilbert & George’, which will be on view from 1 May 2026 until 2027.
George Crompton was a daily figure in the world of Gilbert & George, a dear friend of the artists whose presence in the studio would often accompany them as they worked. He was a person experiencing homelessness who lived at a registered care home run by the homelessness charity St Mungo’s. In recent years, he would travel daily from his accommodation in North London to visit Gilbert & George at their Spitalfields home and studio, in East London.
Displayed together for the first time, and presented as a memorial to George Crompton, the triptych picture CROMPTON STREET and the picture NUMBER TWELVE are unique within the art of Gilbert & George. “We never had friends in our pictures normally” – Gilbert & George, 2026.
Created in 1989, the Postcard Art group ‘WORLDS and WINDOWS’ has not been exhibited since 1990.
The largest group to have been made by Gilbert & George, comprising 564 works, ‘THE URETHRA POSTCARD ART’ (2009) was originally exhibited globally in 2011.
