+ Gagosian
Alluding to the safeguarding of personal belongings, the works, most of which are from the 1960s and 1970s, also speak to ideas of movement, migration, and preservation. The artist’s mixed heritage and experience as a political refugee, daringly escaping Stalin-era Bulgaria to Prague, then relocating to Vienna, Geneva, Paris, and eventually New York, defined him as an eternal wanderer—“l’étranger,” as he referred to himself. This is echoed by the history of 4 Princelet Street itself as a house that has been home to successive migrant families. The property was first constructed in 1723 to house Huguenot migrants—the UK’s first refugees. The area has since welcomed Irish linen workers, Eastern European Jews, Jews from the Netherlands, and most recently members of Spitalfields’ large Bangladeshi community.
Gagosian
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