Half the people who saw the [Whitechapel mid-career retrospective] in 1981 are dead. Half the people who will see the exhibition weren’t alive when the Whitechapel showed us It’s not like football or tennis or going to the cinema. George, who was born George Passmore in Plymouth in 1942, said it was the ideal time to mount the show. “We said, ‘Goody, goody! At last.’ A retrospective of work is so rare.

And in one of their favourite East End restaurants yesterday, the two men were on hand as the gallery announced details of what will be the first major retrospective of their work for a quarter of a century. The exhibition will include more than 200 pictures from the past 35 years, the most extensive survey of their work so far mounted. It will occupy the east and west wings of Tate Modern’s level four and will include a new piece the artists are creating for the concourse “You won’t like it,” Gilbert said, when asked for details. They rejected an original offer of a show at Tate Britain. “I think we’re modern artists rather than British and the space was more suitable for our exhibition as well,” George said. “And I’m not British,” added Gilbert, who still bears the inflection of his native Italian.
Tate eventually agreed to the show the artists wanted. They were the enfants terribles of British art when Damien Hirst was still a baby and have established an international reputation over nearly 40 years, but Gilbert and George still had to spend five years lobbying for what should be the crowning glory of their career so far – the biggest show Tate Modern has dedicated to a “single” artist.

Their bodies were found at the family home in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, on August 20.
He appeared before magistrates in Stockport and was remanded in custody.The bodies were found after neighbours noticed a smell coming from the house on Tumes Road.Post-mortem examinations revealed all four died from head injuries and may have lain undiscovered for up to four weeks.Arshad was arrested on Friday at Heathrow Airport on his return from Bangkok, Thailand.Wearing a blue jumper, he spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.No plea was entered and no application for bail was made.He will reappear on Monday, September 11 at Crown Square Crown Court in Manchester.Speaking outside court, his solicitor Rizvam Anwar read a statement on Arshad’s behalf.”These are very difficult times for me and my family and I ask the media to respect the privacy of my family at these difficult times,” he said.. Rahan Arshad was accused of murdering his wife Usma Rahan, 32, sons Adam, 11, Abbas, 8, and six-year-old daughter Henna. “He has hidden behind the fa?e of respectability and has shown no remorse for the crimes he had committed. We now hope that this enables people to move on with their lives.