Manfred Pernice

Manfred Pernice has created an oeuvre that escapes classification. As a master of precise ambiguity, he has a penchant for creating works that are almost but not quite autonomous sculptures, architectural appropriations, constructed models or meandering installations. He typically works with simple materials like plywood or particle board - or generally items you can find at a building supplies store or on the street.

He makes modular, sometimes serial works of a modernist cast and often turns his sculptures into displays of found pieces. The works seem to have a function – almost – but it eludes a definition. Often he adds another layer of meaning to his sculptures by applying copies of pages from books and newspaper. He devotes himself with a passion to the mundane artefacts of daily life and the experiences to which he alludes are dominated by standardization, as symbolized in the recurring use of containers and tin cans. —Axel Jablonski