Manchester School of Art graduate launches collaborative project with Eric Cantona at Factory International
10 July 2025
Ryan Gander, a British conceptual artist and Manchester School of Art graduate, has just launched a new exhibition alongside former Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona as part of Manchester International Festival.
The exhibition, Privileges of Hindsight, is made up of three artworks that playfully explore the effects of fame. An automated spotlight randomly selects and follows visitors, casting them in the isolating glare of celebrity. At set intervals, speakers play ‘Le Temps Passe’, a haunting song written by Cantona and performed by Lady Sir, with lyrics meditating on the passing of time. Finally, a reproduction of the ticket from Cantona’s final Premier League appearance for Manchester United at Old Trafford in 1997 are handed at random to 500 visitors for them to keep by invigilators throughout the course of the exhibition – each inscribed with a poem written by Cantona, turning football memorabilia into personal talismans.
The pairing of Gander and Cantona is no coincidence. Gander’s work explores systems of value, visibility and attention, while Cantona – revered, provocative and enigmatic – embodies the paradoxes of fame. Together, they invite us to think about what remains when the crowd moves on – and who we are when no one is watching. Privileges of Hindsight explores attention as currency and both the gallery and the football pitch as theatres of visibility. What happens when you can’t escape the limelight?
Ryan Gander, who graduated from Manchester School of Art in 1999, has established an international reputation through artworks that materialise in many different forms, ranging from sculpture, apparel and writing to architecture, painting, typefaces, publications and performance. As well as curating exhibitions, he is a committed educator, having taught at international art institutions and universities. He has also written and presented television programmes about contemporary art and culture for the BBC. 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.
Find out more about the exhibition.
Image: Ryan Gander x Eric Cantona, Until death let us be immortal, 2025.
