Pursuing the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s mission of showcasing exclusive holdings of the Collection to a broader international public, the Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo presents for the first time in Japan the iconic monumental triptych Class War, Militant, Gateway (1986) by Gilbert & George, within the framework of the ongoing “Hors-les-murs” programme.

The Collection features a considerable ensemble of works by Gilbert & George dating from 1971 to 2019 that has been completed with pieces from their latest series. A manifesto for a modern epic poem, Class War, Militant, Gateway (1986) was their first monumental piece. It illustrates the individual’s adventure, from affiliation with a community to the emergence of a personal conscience and self-affirmation. As in most of their works, the images are arranged in a grid of black frames to form a frieze dominated by red, white and blue. Gilbert & George substitute the vertical “pyramid of oppression” by the horizontality of a society that no longer appears to be divided according to class. This democratic harmonisation is represented here through work blues in which all the characters in the foreground are dressed to the waist.