The absence of Mark Manders
Museum of Contemporary Art – Until June 20, 2021 Tokyo (Japan)
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) is delighted to present the first solo exhibition in a museum of Japanese art by Mark Manders. A Dutch artist who occupies a unique position on the contemporary art scene.
The history of art.
For this solo exhibition, Manders designed the entire exhibition as the installation of a single work. Building. The individual works are assembled from images based on the history of art. Personal memories. of statues and words. Also, various furniture and other objects. For the viewer, they invoke complex emotions. Distort the sense of time and encourage reflection and introspection. Each independent work is fascinating in isolation. However, being part of a larger picture reveals even more captivating new aspects. Each work manifests itself as a part of this imaginary building. The real Manders who produce the works and the self-portrait of the imaginary Manders mingle. Disappear and reappear as they draw the viewer into a fictional space. At the same time, the individual works are interchangeable. Like the words in a sentence, they can be interchanged depending on the room and the setting.
The absence.
For this reason, the imaginary building as a whole looks like an automatic mechanism in constant modification and updating. Absence in the title is one of the keywords behind all of Manders’s work. It has multiple meanings, including the reference to stillness. To the feeling that what can be seen in an installation is a moment frozen in time. Traces of missing occupants. The way the agency oscillates between the real artist and the imaginary artist.
It can also be taken to mean that the work is autonomous. Able to maintain an independent existence even if the artist is absent. The world of Manders continues to captivate those who enter it. It encourages them to reconsider their thoughts about the meaning of art. Their thoughts about time and experiences of human life and the imagination. This solo exhibition is a very valuable opportunity to appreciate in depth the work of Manders. To observe its unique structure. Viewers are recommended to sharpen their senses and take their time to fully experience this world.
MCA→ 4-1-1 Miyoshi Toritsu Kiba-koen Koto-ku – Tokyo, Japan 135-0022
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