From January 31 until May 29, work by Mark Manders will be on view in an exhibition at the BAMPFA in Berkeley, CA.
From January 31 until May 29, work by Mark Manders will be on view in an exhibition at the BAMPFA in Berkeley, CA.
The inaugural exhibition in the BAMPFA’s landmark new building, “Architecture of Life” explores the ways that architecture -as a concept, metaphor, and practice- illuminates various aspects of life experience: the nature of the self and psyche, the fundamental structures of reality, and the power of the imagination to reshape our world. The exhibition occupies every gallery in the new building and is comprised of over two hundred works of art in a wide range of media, as well as scientific illustrations and architectural drawings and models, made over the past two thousand years.
Dutch artist Mark Manders will participate in the exhibition with his work “Girl Study” from 2013.
Born in 1968 in Volkel, The Netherlands, Manders currently lives and works in Ronse, Belgium. For more than two decades, Mark Manders has developed an endless self-portrait in the form of sculpture, still life, and architectural plans. Described by the artist as his ongoing “self-portrait as a building,” Manders’ works present mysterious and evocative tableaux that allow viewers to construct their own narrative conclusions and meanings. Initially inspired by an interest in writing and literature, Manders’ first conception of the self-portrait was more literal, employing language and the written word to describe his own narrative in an autobiography. Moving beyond the limits of language, he later began to explore the architecture of storytelling, focusing on structure, rather than on specific content. This early realization resulted in his first sculptural investigations of form, meaning and narrative, which over the years have developed into a remarkable and continually expanding body of work.
BAMPFA, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, is the visual arts center of the University of California, Berkeley. Its mission is to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through art and film.