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.

Born in 1976 in Chester, UK, Gander 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 exhibitions by the artist have taken place at Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, Netherlands (2025); Pola Museum of Art, Hakone, Japan (2025); Museo Helga de Alvear, Caceres, Spain (2024); Ishikawa Cultural Foundation, Okayama, Japan (2023); The Little House, Los Angeles, US (2023); Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2022); East Gallery at Norwich University, Norwich, UK (2022); Space K Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2021); Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland (2019); BASE / Progetti per l’arte, Florence, Italy (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); 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). His work has been included in biennales and festivals around the world, and group exhibitions at prestigious institutions including New Museum, New York, USA (2025); Factory International, Manchester (2025); Fonds Leclec, Landerneau (2025); Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2024); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek (2023); Centraal Museum, Utrecht (2023); Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (2023); Lenbachhaus, Munich (2023); Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg (2022); Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris (2022 & 2021); Centre d’Art Contemporain enève, Geneva (2020); South London Gallery, London (2018); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); M WOODS, Beijing (2017), Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin (2017) and many more. Gander’s work is held in the collections around the world including Pinault Collection, Paris, France; National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Austrailia; Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA, USA; Space K Seoul, Seoul, South Korea; Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; Voorlinden Museum, The Netherlands, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Arts Council Collection, London; British Council Collection, London; Carré d’art, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Nimes; The Contemporary Austin, Austin, Texas; Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine Museum, Fukuoka; Fnac, Paris; FRAC Haute Normandie, Rouen; FRAC Ile de France, Paris; FRAC Nord Pas-de-Calais, Calais; Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; Government Art Collection, London; Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich; Ishikawa Collection, Okayama; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; LVMH Foundation, Paris; MMK–Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Bologna; Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal; Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona; Museo Tamayo Art Contemporaneo, Mexico City; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie, Warsaw; National Gallery of Art, Osaka; National Museum Wales, Cardiff; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; and Tate Collection, London.