Manfred Pernice is regarded as a key figure in contemporary sculpture whose work has significantly expanded the relationship between architecture, display, and systems of urban organisation. Since the early 1990s, he has developed a distinctive sculptural language drawing upon architecture, civil engineering, packaging and transport systems. Working with materials such as particleboard, plywood, iron, tiles, cardboard, and concrete, he constructs forms that evoke both the provisionality of construction sites and the status of autonomous sculpture. His works frequently reference urban infrastructures and circulation systems while maintaining a sustained interest in how objects are presented, organised and stored within space, often appearing as modular components of a broader structural logic.
Pernice’s practice may be understood as an investigation into provisional architecture and the accumulation of memory. An early conceptual point of departure was the notion of Verdostheit—a “canning” or containment of the world—realised in cylindrical and cuboid vessel forms. These have gradually evolved into complex, prismatic structures that establish a firm physical presence within the exhibition context. Though solid and insistent, they retain an air of incompletion, foregrounding process, contingency, and the instability of any fixed order.
The surfaces and interiors of these sculptural configurations function as open systems. Pernice integrates texts, drawings, newspaper clippings, photocopies, photographic material, and found objects, embedding socio-cultural codes and local references into the work. The result is a layered field in which spatial, historical, and personal associations intersect. His sculptural constructions serve simultaneously as containers, display devices, and cognitive maps.
Two methodological principles are central to Pernice’s practice: Unschärfe (blurring or lack of focus) and Peilung (taking bearings). A Peilung constitutes a momentary act of orientation—an attempt to register position within a complex world while acknowledging the provisional nature of any classification. Through processes of sorting, separating, and preserving discarded or overlooked material, Pernice constructs poetic networks of reference that admit the instability of meaning while nevertheless insisting on material presence.
Pernice studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Braunschweig (1984–1987), and the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin (1988–1994). His work has been presented in major international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (2001, 2003) and documenta XI (2002). Further participation has included Manifesta 3, Ljubljana (2002); the Berlin Biennale (1998); the Lyon Biennale (1997); the Seville Biennale (2006); Skulptur Projekte Münster (2007); and the São Paulo Biennial (2011). Since 2007, his work has been a recurring presence at KölnSkulptur.
Works by Manfred Pernice are held in prominent public collections worldwide, among them The Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate Modern, London; S.M.A.K., Ghent; the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; and the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz.
Pernice lives and works in Berlin.