Gander Ryan
“I be… (lxiii)” (2025), showcases a mirror, typically a space for introspection, obscured beneath a draped cloth, which is not merely temporary but eternally fashioned from cold marble. Rather than safeguarding, the marble obstructs and negates the mirror’s purpose. The act of gazing is postponed indefinitely.
This encapsulation implies a fusion of preservation, negligence, and denial. The now-inaccessible mirror serves as a striking metaphor for care while simultaneously acting as a formidable barrier, urging the viewer to consider what remains concealed or suspended between narratives. Positioned within a structure that embodies the contrast of exposure and seclusion, this object withholds meaning clearly, hovering between the past and future.
Ryan Gander (b. 1976, Chester, UK)
Lives and works in Suffolk, UK.
Ryan Gander has established an international reputation through artworks that materialize in many different forms, ranging from sculpture, apparel, and writing to architecture, painting, typefaces, publications, and performance. As well as curating exhibitions, he is a committed educator, having taught at international art institutions and universities, and has written and presented television programs on and about contemporary art and culture for the BBC.
Through associative thought processes that connect the everyday and the esoteric, the overlooked and the commonplace, Gander’s work involves a questioning of language and knowledge, as well as a reinvention of both the modes of appearance and the creation of an artwork. His work can be reminiscent of a puzzle, or a network with multiple connections and the fragments of an embedded story. Ultimately, it is a vast constellation of hidden clues to be deciphered, encouraging viewers to form their own associations and invent their own narratives in order to unravel the complexities staged by the artist.
Ryan Gander studied at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam, NL), and the Jan van Eyck Akademie (Maastricht, NL). He has been Professor of Visual Art at the Universities of Huddersfield and Suffolk and holds honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from both Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Suffolk. In 2017 he was appointed OBE for services to contemporary arts. In 2019 he received the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and in 2022 he was elected Royal Academician in the category of Sculpture.