Mark
Manders
The lifelong endeavor of Dutch-Belgian artist Mark Manders has been to make art in accordance with the unconventional concept of “Self-Portrait as a Building.” His vision is that of an attempt to construct as “architecture” a self-portrait of “Mark Manders” the fictional artist conceived by Manders. The sculptures and objects arranged in that building stand alone and at the same time coalesce to craft an installation that in toto forms an imaginary architectural space. There, Manders himself, and the fictional Manders, mingle in a perpetual redefining of the relationality of presence and absence.
An underlying concept of Manders’ practice is that of “frozen moments.” His works are shot through with diverse temporalities—in cracks reminiscent of weathering, and depictions of profound stillness. In Fox / Mouse / Belt (1992–93) for example, a fox is tied to a mouse, its putative prey, by a belt. This curious combo, an interposing of human action in feral relationship, is frozen in a specific moment. Adding to its oddly timeless quality, the incongruity of the material—bronze that looks like wet clay—gives the work a peculiar tension. Similarly, Composition with Four Yellow Verticals (2017–19), one of Manders’ best-known creations, may appear to consist of fragile masses of clay, but is in fact made from sturdy bronze, its understated collision of bodies and manmade objects conjuring up an abundance of imagery.
Manders’ fascination with words and poetry is nowhere more evident than in Notional Newspapers (2005–22), which takes every single word in the dictionary, and uses it once, in random order. This enumeration of words left hanging, so to speak, explores the loss of meaning, and autonomy of language. Meanwhile, his project inspired by images of the legendary “Skiapods” with their single large feet revisits, with even greater complexity, the connections between language, body and symbols.
Mind Study (2010–11), presented at the 2013 Venice Biennale, consists of a figure with a single extended leg, fixed by wire to one end of a long table. Here again, a combination of arbitrary objects exists definitively in this moment, maintaining an exquisite balance.
Manders is also known for making household items such as chairs and tables at 88 percent of their actual size. This subtle distancing from reality discombobulates the viewer physically, compelling them to question reality.
On the other hand, Tilted Head (2015–18), installed on a New York street, lies tipped on the ground amid the unending movement of the world around, as if still a work in progress. The interplay of different temporalities, the unexpected nature of the material, the lyrical arrangement of fragmented elements, all typical of Manders’ works, are amply displayed in this new environment of the outdoors.
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Manders has participated in numerous exhibitions including the 24th São Paulo Biennial (1998). He represented the Netherlands with a solo exhibition in the Dutch Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013). He unveiled large-scale public sculptures in Rokin Square, Amsterdam (2017) and also in Central Park, New York (2019). Major exhibitions in Japan include "Double Silence" at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (2020) and "The Absence of Mark Manders" at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2021).
BIOGRAPHY
1968Born in Volkel, The Netherlands
Lives and works in Ronse, Belgium
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025Mark Manders, Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, The Netherlands
Three Related Works, Monder Art, London
Keijiban, Kanazawa, Japan
2024Silent Studio, Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo
Mark Manders, Fandazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
Mark Manders, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium
2023The Absence of Mark Manders, Woning van Wassenhove, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
Writing Skiapod, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Los Angeles
2021Mark Manders, Storage and Display, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
The Absence of Mark Manders, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2020The Absence of Mark Manders, Bonnefanten museum, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Double Silence, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishikawa, Japan
2019Tilted Head, Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaze, New York (public commision)
Writing Yellow, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Silent Studio, Kistefos Museum, Oslo, Norway (permanent commission)
2018Michaël Borremans/Mark Manders, Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo
2017Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (permanent site-specific commission)
Rokin fountain sculpture, Rokin Square, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (permanent installation)
2016Mark Manders, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2015Mark Manders, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Mark Manders, Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo
Public Art Fund, Central Park, New York
2014Mark Manders, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Acolyte Frena, De Vleeshal, Middelburg, The Netherlands
Cose in Corso, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emillia, Italy
Mark Manders, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2013Room with broken Sentence, 55th Venice Biennal, Dutch Pavillion, Venice
2012Les études d’ombres, Carré d’Art – Musée d’art contemporain, Nîmes, France
Parallel Occurences / Documented Assignments, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
2011Two Interconnected Houses, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Parallel Occurences / Documented Assignments, Walker Art Center, Minnesota, USA
Parallel Occurences / Documented Assignments, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA
Two Interconnected Houses, La Casa Luis Barragán, Mexico City
Obra de Referencia / Reference Work’, Carillo Gil Museum of Art, Mexico City
2010Parallel Occurences / Documented Assignments, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Mark Manders, Jarla Partilager, Stockholm
Mark Manders, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
2009Mark Manders, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
The Absence of Mark Manders, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich
2008The Absence of Mark Manders, S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium
The Absence of Mark Manders, Kunsthall Bergen, Norway
2007The Absence of Mark Manders, Kunstverein Hannover, Germany
Mark Manders, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
2006Mark Manders: Short Sad Thoughts, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England
2005Parallel Occurance, IMMA – Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
MATRIX 214: The Absence of Mark Manders, Berkeley Art Museum, California, USA
Mark Manders: Fragmenst from Self-Portrait as a Building, Solo Projects, Los Angeles
2004Silent Studio, Zeno X Storage, Antwerp-Borgerhout
2003Isolated Rooms, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Isolated Rooms, The Renaissance Society, Chicago
Silent Factory, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2002Kaleidoscope Night, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands
Yellow Bathtub, Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Mark Manders, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York
Fragments from Self-Portrait as a Building, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia
Fragments from Self-Portrait as a Building, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
2000Night Drawings from Self-portrait as a Building, Kabinet OverHolland / Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Reduced November Room (Fragment from Selfportrait as a Building, reduced to 88%), Greene Naftali Gallery, New York
Room with several night drawings and one reduced night scene, The Drawing Center, New York
1999Coloured Room with Black and White Scene, Galerie Friedrich, Bern, Switzerland
1998Self Portrait in a surrounding area,XXIV Biennale Sao Paolo
14 Fragments from Self-Portrait as a Building, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany
1997Mark Manders, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Mark Manders, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
Mark Manders, De Appel, Amsterdam
1995Mark Manders, Galerie Erika + Otto Friedrich, Bern, Switzerland
1994Mark Manders shows some fragments of his Self-Portrait, MUHKA, Antwerp
Mark Manders, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Mark Manders, Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
1992Fragmenten uit het zelfportret als gebouw, Stroom HCBK, Den Haag, The Netherlands
1991Lokaal 01, Breda, The Netherlands
1990Zeppelin, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
