Arts & Culture
Despite the work involved in the creation of the vast sculptures, each one is dismantled at the cessation of the mid-July festival. Having previously worked as a stagehand and scenic artist for everyone from the Royal Opera House to the Royal Shakespeare Company, it is a situation Gerry has become accustomed to. He said: “I used to design film sets for many years. Some beautiful stuff that we built was just filmed for a few minutes and then thrown away. All of the Goodwood sculptures had their problems in construction. I think the 911 piece was one of the easiest in a way but it seems to have struck a chord with everybody for some reason.” After forging a reputation as an innovative set designer for institutions such as the BBC and filmmaker Ridley Scott, Gerry’s artistic flair afforded him the opportunity to work with a veritable who’s who of music greats, including Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, Te Who and Sting. He said: “I’d be working on the stages for
concerts or the sets for pop videos. I particularly enjoyed working with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, but they were all great. Michael Jackson was really nice to work with. He was over in Prague rehearsing and we were doing the setting. With all these guys you’re just all working together. Tere’s no sense of ‘oh wow, this is great,’ you’re all trying to do the same
thing - just put on a show. I suppose when you start developing a body of work, from then on people trust in you and ask you to do it. Just because they’re so famous doesn’t mean you’re going to do the best thing for them.” Gerry grew up in West Bengal and moved to
London, where he lives today, when he was 10 years old. Te landscape of the relatively drab, post-war capital was something of a culture shock to young Gerry and he would spend hours in his bedroom sketching futuristic cars and landscapes, working towards his dream of becoming an artist. He said: “Coming to England you draw upon your immigrant mentality. You just have to work yourself that extra bit harder and push yourself that bit more to get somewhere. Your sense of ambition changes. Tat affects how you work and how you push yourself into different artworks.” Today, Gerry’s work is very much in demand.
Our interview is briefly interrupted by a client from South Korea, while he is also working on a large-scale project in China. At the time of interview Gerry is also preparing to exhibit at the Burn Yard arts festival in Budapest. He has exhibited all around the world and has been commissioned for an array of significant pieces, such as his Auschwitz model for the Holocaust Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London. Motoring and art enthusiasts alike eagerly await his next offering at Goodwood.
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