The Eternal and Ephemeral Become One in Mark Manders' 'Silent Studio
In Turin, the artist finds poise in the unfinished.
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin presents Silent Studio by Dutch artist Mark Manders, now on view through March 16, 2025. The exhibition weaves together over 20 works from the past three decades, culminating in a poetic reflection of imagination, identity and the elusive nature of time.
Manders’ practice exists at the intersection of language, sculpture and fiction, defined by continuous experimentation. His long-standing project Self Portrait as a Building serves as the conceptual backbone of this approach, transforming traditional self-portraiture into a metaphorical structure that evolves with each exhibition.
Taking cues from his personal studio as both a physical and conceptual space, the show explores the narrative potential of sculpture as sturdy materials such as bronze, steel and iron embody a sense of softness and the delicate appearance of clay.
Constructed over the course of several years and, at times, decades, Manders’ work conveys a fluid sense of time, caught between an unchanging past and an unfolding present. Contemplative in their unfinished appearance, it is as if these sculptures exist in a fleeting moment just before they disappear forever.
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Via Modane, 16,
10141 Torino TO, Italy