Artist:
Ryan Gander (born 1976 in Chester, England; lives and works in London, England).

Materials:
Exhibition at the house of Ernö Goldfinger, 2 Willow Road, Hampstead, London

Description:
Inspired by the furniture and fittings that Ernö Goldfinger designed for 2 Willow Road, Gander created new works to be interspersed with the collection inside the architect’s Modernist home.

“Goldfinger was a Hungarian-born architect and designer of furniture who is most notably remembered for his residential tower blocks, part of the government’s attempt to solve the housing shortage after World War II. Among his most iconic buildings were the 27-floor Balfron Tower in the East End of London and the 31-floor Trellick Tower in North Kensington which are both fine examples of Brutalist architecture.

One audio-visual work in the exhibition (A flawed and wounded man bleeding frames onto a page) is a performance of a children’s book written by Gander, entitled The Boy Who Always Looked Up, about Goldfinger’s relationship to Trellick Tower. The work is a dramatic radio play, filmed in a professional recording studio, incorporating a live performance using sound effect props to accompany the narrative.

Goldfinger designed 2 Willow Road for himself and his family in 1939 and the house contains the Goldfingers’ impressive collection of modern art, intriguing personal possessions and innovative furniture. Gander’s works draw on the objects designed and assembled by the Goldfinger family, so a small self-assembly moneybox, secreted upstairs in a bedroom, has been made using the same slot-together technique used by Elizabeth Goldfinger for the lounge chairs in 2 Willow Road itself.”

– Lisson Gallery website