Ryan Gander featured in 2019 Platform at The Armory Show
6 March 2019
In 1918, Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl group, George Vantongerloo created Komposition Aus Dem Ovoid (Composition from the ovoid). Over a hundred years later, British artist Ryan Gander comically revisits this artwork with Het Spel (My neotonic ovoid contribution to Modernism) (2019), an enlarged and swollen form made of up of ovoids covered in multi-colored artificial fur balls.This year's iteration of The Armory Show's Platform section is curated by Sally Tallant, executive director of the Queens Museum and former director of the Liverpool Biennial. Titled Worlds of Tomorrow, the section will draw its inspiration from the 1939 New York World’s Fair and relate that event to today’s current political climate.
Ryan Gander has established an international reputation through artworks that materialize 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.
Gander's presentation went on to the receive the Inaugural Pommery Prize, presented by The Armory Show and Pommery Champagne. The 2019 jury included Nathalie Vranken, Owner, Champagne Pommery and art-world connoisseur and patron; Sandra Hegedüs, Collector and Founder of SAM Art Projects; and Marie Griffay, Director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne.
“I’m super humbled to receive this prize,” says Ryan Gander. “Het Spel, 2019 (The Game) is an attempt to reimagine history. What if... Scenarios. What would the works of Georges Vantongerloo look like if the artist was alive today? This is my juvenile/playful contribution to modernism. Optimistic proof that the privilege of hindsight is as much in our imaginations as in history.”
Visit The Armory Show Platform from 7-9 March, and Lisson Gallery at Booth 601. For more information visit www.thearmoryshow.com
Images:
Ryan Gander, Het Spel (My neotonic contribution to Modernism), 2019 © Ryan Gander
Louise Hayward, Eliza Osborne, Nathalie Vranken, Sandra Hegedus, Ryan Gander, Stanislas Thierry, Sally Tallant, Aurelie Vix and Nicole Berry. Photo © Teddy Wolff. Courtesy The Armory Show
