WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will present a selection of works by sculptor Mark Mennin as part of the annual ArtPrize competition and an extended fall exhibition at various locations in and around the new Welcome Center.
ArtPrize runs Thursday, Sept.15, through Sunday, Oct. 2. Mennen’s Embedded installation is the official ArtPrize entry at Meijer Gardens. The extended fall exhibition Mark Mennen: Written in Stone runs Sept. 2 through Nov. 27.
Embedded, the artist’s ArtPrize 2022 entry, comprises three oversized stone beds situated outdoors on the Frey Foundation Plaza leading into the Welcome Center. This trio plays with our perception of hard and soft, heavy and light. As such, these pillowy stone sculptures offer an invitation to test our strength and sense of touch. Several of Mennin’s preferred sculpted forms, like clothing or cushions, upend our expectations of stone’s standard qualities.
Along with the ArtPrize entry, other sculptures by Mennin will be on view in the exhibition Written in Stone. Within the PNC Portico outside of the Welcome Center, a marble colonnade features five recycled columns with carved Elizabethan ruff collars for capitals. The columns came from a 19th-century New York City building that was partly destroyed in the 1930s and buried in a New Jersey landfill. The “found” or repurposed stone in Mennin’s fanciful colonnade literally has history inscribed in its form, along with the record of the stone’s own physical past. Additional sculptures will be featured in the Courtyard Level of the Welcome Center. Most of Mennin’s projects, including his carved beds, enlist reclaimed stone or recycled scrap and slag from various quarries.
“Mark Mennin’s Embedded installation perfectly embodies the spirit of ArtPrize. These sculpted stone beds are engaging and thought provoking, and invite us to connect with the physical world,” said Suzanne Ramljak, chief curator at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. “Through his sensual carved forms, he grounds us in primal geology and the histories of both built and natural stone environments. His beds also bring the private acts of pleasure and relaxation out into the public sphere.”
Meijer Gardens is an official ArtPrize venue as part of the 12th annual ArtPrize competition. ArtPrize exhibition areas are free and open to the public during regular Meijer Gardens business hours. All other areas observe regular hours and standard admission fees.
