For nearly 50 years, Gun Gordillo has lived and worked inside the same converted textile factory in central Copenhagen, where neon sculptures twist from every corner and a Poul Kjærholm chair sits beneath a postcard of a Rothko. Now 81, she invites Vogue Scandinavia to discover her eclectic home-turned-studio where her fluorescent rebellion is still, unmistakably, running on full power
Amidst the residual machinery of an old textile factory in Copenhagen, the Swedish-Danish artist Gun Gordillo has lived and worked in the same apartment and studio for some 50 years. From her open windows, the bustling sounds of Holbergsgade and the Gammelholm neighbourhood of central Copenhagen can be heard, close to the colourful façades of Nyhavn and the Royal Danish Theatre, locations that make it a historically popular area for artists, dancers, and musicians.
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The undulating twists and curves of Gordillo’s signature neon light sculptures hang from different corners of the apartment, trembling in luminous white and vibrant shades of crimson, blue, yellow, and turquoise. Gordillo has long blended neon with industrial materials – lead, stone, and metal – as well as plexiglass panes and even feathers. As she explains when she guides me through the apartment, “I like the heaviness and the lightness of these opposite things.” Her majestic works are interspersed with those of other artists, carefully collected over the years, with a clear taste for the minimalist and abstract.
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Photo: Erik Lefvander