Ryan Gander

Ryan Gander has established an international reputation through artworks that materialise in many different forms – from sculpture to film, writing, graphic design, installation, performance and more besides. 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. It is ultimately a huge set of hidden clues to be deciphered, encouraging viewers to make their own associations and invent their own narrative in order to unravel the complexities staged by the artist.

Ryan Gander RA OBE (born 1976, Chester, UK) lives and works in Suffolk and London. He studied at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK; the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and the Jan van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht, Netherlands. The artist has been a Professor of Visual Art at the University of Huddersfield and holds an honorary Doctor of the Arts at the Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Suffolk. In 2017 he was awarded an OBE for services to contemporary art. In 2019 he was awarded the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University. In 2022, he was made RA for the category of Sculpture.

Recent solo shows have been held at Museo Helga se Alvear, Caćeres, Spain (2024); Ishikawa Cultural Foundation, Okayama, Japan (2023); Annet Gelink, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2023); Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2022); East Gallery at NUA, Norwich, UK (2022); Space K, Seoul, South Korea (2021); Lisson Gallery, New York, USA (2020); Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland (2019); Lisson Gallery, Shanghai, China (2019), Esther Schipper, Berlin, Germany (2019), 21st Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2018), TARO NASU, Tokyo, Japan (2018); gb Agency, Paris, France (2018); Dazaifu Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan (2017); Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada (2017); The Contemporary Austin, TX, USA (2017); the National Museum of Art Osaka, Osaka, Japan (2017); Hyundai Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (2017); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium (2016); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, USA (2016); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (2015); Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia (2015); Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore, Singapore (2015); and Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK (2014). Major projects include Liverpool Biennale, UK; Sydney Biennale, Sydney, Australia; British Art Show 8, Leeds, UK; Performa 15, New York, NY, USA; Panorama, High Line, New York, USA; Imagineering, Okayama Castle, Okayama, Japan; 'The artists have the keys', 2 Willow Road, London, UK; Unlimited, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Parcours, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Esperluette, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany; 'Locked Room Scenario', commissioned by Artangel, London, UK; ILLUMInations at the 54th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; 'Intervals' at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA; and 'The Happy Prince', Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, New York, NY, USA.

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

‘Ryan Gander: The Find’, Manchester Factory Festival (29 June - 16 July 2023)

Chester Contemporary, Curated by Ryan Gander (22 September - 1 December 2023)

‘The Irreplaceable Human – the Conditions of Creativity in the Age of AI’, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (23 November 2023 -7 April 2024)

Ryan Gander
School of Languages, 2023

Animatronic gorilla, audio, desk, fan

Installed: 125 x 340 x 230 cm

Installed: 49 1/4 x 133 7/8 x 90 1/2 in

Audio: 27 min. 16 sec.

Ryan Gander
Irresistible Force Paradox (Mexico Blue 336), 2023

Aluminium, Automotive Paint
180 x 122 x 5 cm

70 7/8 x 48 x 1 7/8 in

Ryan Gander
Chronos Kairos, 88.88

Chronos Kairos, 88.88, 2023

Stainless steel, acrylic, LEDs

34 x 72 x 15 cm

13 3/8 x 28 3/8 x 5 7/8 in

Ryan Gander
I be... (lvii), 2023

Antique mirror and marble resin
126 x 89 x 21 cm

Ryan Gander
Upturned Le Corbusier chair following an afternoon of snowfall

2017
Ash, marble resin 81 x 68 x 70 cm 31 7/8 x 26 3/4 x 27 1/2 in

Ryan Gander
Know not your place in the world / Explorations in agency (Dan Navarro), 2023

Bronze, gloss paint
Installed: 133 x 40 x 196 cm

Ryan Gander
A Moving Object, Or Out of reach, 2023

Bronze, enamel paint
19 x 10 x 11 cm

Ryan Gander
Temporal Departures (37 St James St South, Manchester),

Temporal Departures (37 St James St South, Manchester), 2023

Stainless steel

200 x 90 x 5.5 cm

78 3/4 x 35 3/8 x 2 1/8 in

Ryan Gander
Bound by things

2023

Animatronics 197 x 135 x 13 cm 77 1/2 x 53 1/8 x 5 1/8 in

Ryan Gander
Chronos Kairos, 14.58

2021

Stainless steel 31.5 x 44 x 8.8 cm 12 3/8 x 17 3/8 x 3 1/2 in

Ryan Gander
Echo Portrayal - Olive and Penny envisaging a T-rex in the cafe of the National Musuem of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2016, 2017

Acrylic on glass

67 x 40 x 2.5 cm

26 3/8 x 15 3/4 x 1 in

Ryan Gander
This conventional sign (We hastily painted signs in the moment, but our thoughts were in the future), 2021

12 oz burlap linen flax, propylene glycol floor paint

201 x 150.8 x 4.5 cm

79 1/8 x 59 3/8 x 1 3/4 in

Ryan Gander
Natural and conventional signs (Some painted signs, whilst others stared at the moon)

2021

12 oz burlap linen flax, 10 oz indigo black Japanese denim, acrylic paint, propylene glycol floor paint. 180.5 x 268.5 x 3.5 cm (overall).

Ryan Gander
This natural sign (Some painted slogans, others stood calmly staring at the moon)

2021

10 oz indigo Japanese denim, acrylic paint. 180.5 x 130.5 x 4.5 cm / 71 x 51 3/8 x 1 3/4 in.

Ryan Gander
Goodnight London, or The squatters (Misty meet Floyer’s Mirror Globe [2014], 2020

Wood, latex, resin, synthetic fur, paint, animatronics 12.7 x 40.6 x 30.5 cm 5 x 16 x 12 in

Ryan Gander
Bit Part Player (Balthazar, Merchant of Venice; Act 3, Scene 4), 2019-2020

Graphite, fibreglass, resin, cotton t-shirt and joggers Figure: 183 x 65 x 47 cm Figure: 72 x 25 1/2 x 18 1/2 in

Ryan Gander
By physical or cognitive means (Broken Window Theory 31 December), 2020

Framed painting on glass, Ink on paper, emulsion paint, aluminium frame, reinforced broken glass 120 x 95 x 7.6 cm 47 1/8 x 37 3/8 x 2 7/8 in

Ryan Gander
These memories are not my own, 2019-2020

Vending machine, stones, jesmonite, graphite, graphene 183.5 x 80 x 94 cm 72 1/8 x 31 1/2 x 37 in

Ryan Gander
The End

2020
Animatronics Room variable dimensions. Mouse unit: 19.5 x 24 x 22 cm Room variable dimensions. Mouse unit: 7 5/8 x 9 3/8 x 8 5/8 in

Ryan Gander
Take confidence in your abilities

2019
Animatronics 9 x 2.5 x 6.5 cm 3 1/2 x 7/8 x 2 1/2 in

Ryan Gander
By physical or cognitive means (Broken Window Theory 25th March)

2019
Ink on paper, emulsion paint, aluminium frame, reinforced broken glass, duct tape 180 x 135 x 7 cm 70 3/4 x 53 1/8 x 2 3/4 in

Ryan Gander
All things being equal, or I'm with you

2018
Bronze, wooden cube, plinths 70 x 25 x 35 cm (each sculpture) 27 1/2 x 9 3/4 x 13 3/4 in (each sculpture) 80 x 40 x 40 cm (plinth) 31 1/2 x 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in (plinth)