Art Cast

Art Cast
Series 3 Episode 3: Ryan Gander

Art Cast is a podcast series of informal discussions with professional artists and designers, presented by Matt Gee, Programme Area Manager of Fine Art, joined by students from Morley College London – Chelsea Centre.

For this episode Matt is joined by artist, Ryan Gander who identifies as “a sort of neo-conceptualist, Proper-‘Gander’-ist, amateur philosopher”. Emma Allen and Steve Harrison, both current students on our HNC in Fine Art, are also joining the conversation.

Gander’s artwork is not confined to any particular style or medium. He prefers to explore ideas through a multitude of materials and methods, often challenging how art and design can be approached. He has investigated various topics, such as modernist design, creativity, education, and utopian/dystopian worlds. Examples of his work include “It Came out of Nowhere, he said staring at an empty space”, a document wallet made in collaboration with Jonathan Monk; “Device #5”, a series of non-functional devices; and “A lamp made by the artist for his wife”, a series of ad hoc lamps.

Gander wants to work outside of the traditional ways of producing art, so he has collaborated with his daughters and has used different pseudonyms. He hopes his work is expansive and has more end points than starting points, like in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. These books were published in the 1970s and were marketed to 10-14 year olds. In these books, the reader is presented with a decision at the end of each page and depending on the choice, the narrative splits.

Ryan was awarded an OBE in 2017 and has been elected Royal Academician in the category of Sculpture. In 2005 he won the Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel.

You can now listen to the previous two series on streaming platforms such as Apple and Spotify, just search Art Cast Morley Radio.

You can find art courses at Morley College London’s Chelsea Centre here