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According to the writer Michael Bracewell, Jack Freak Pictures comprise the single largest group of pictures that Gilbert & George have ever made. It is a monumental presentation of art, at once thematically episodic, confluent in motif and temper, and densely layered with emotional meaning. One pictorial element, however, the red, white and blue design of the Union Jack flag (itself an abstract, geometric pattern) appears to dominate this vivid and disquieting group. Strident, even jocular, this internationally recognized symbol, in all its connotations, from national pride and pageantry to Pop-cultural cool and civic disobedience, transmits its resonance across myriad social and cultural frequencies. Its historic and symbolic presence serves as both heart and spine of the Jack Freak Pictures, at once declamatory, iconic, multi-layered and irrefutable.
