Mike Nelson

Mike Nelson (b. 1967) is one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation. His work is primarily characterized by sculptures and meticulously constructed large-scale architectural installations. In this new piece created for Malmö Konsthall, Nelson used the institutional architecture as a backdrop for an enormous concrete workshop. The exhibition space was divided by a glass wall, creating two separate rooms: a smaller production workshop and the exhibition space itself, which was stripped back to its original form.

The production workshop was used to cast several thousand concrete blocks, which were laid out across the floor in a grid-like pattern, forming a mesh over the remaining space in the art hall. The cast concrete blocks, which together weighed 408 tons, were carried out and arranged on the floor in a geometric pattern—a minimalist form reminiscent of early decorative design, often associated with various religious and spiritual systems. Nelson was interested in making the process transparent, in highlighting what was actually present: 408 tons of incomplete geometry within the architecture of Malmö Konsthall. The visibility of the workshop and the casting process again expressed this desire for clarity. The number of tons had been calculated in relation to the weight the wooden floor could bear, taking into account both the weight of the concrete structure and that of the potential visitors.

The meaning of this work was neither given nor didactic. However, the sense of weight and the implied ideologies within the casting process—embedded in the late modernist design of Malmö Konsthall—were intended to affect us both physically and intellectually. The hypnotic perspective of the repeated pattern evoked a meditative, introspective state, aiming to awaken understanding in a more “tangible” way—one that integrates the political with the phenomenological.

This sea of cast concrete at Malmö Konsthall was a new work by Mike Nelson that recalls his early pieces such as Untitled (1991); Cast concrete wall in context (1992); Cast Kufic script from the Khulufa Mosque built by M. Makiya in 1960–63 (1993); and A staging of the reconstruction of the southern palace of Babylon (1993). The work reconnects with a foundation of more minimalist pieces, shedding light on some unanswered aspects of Nelson’s acclaimed artistic practice.

Over the past two decades, Nelson has created works, installations, and spaces that continue to fascinate audiences. His installations could be compared to stage sets, though structures from video games or tomb architecture might be more fitting references. Here, one finds hidden entrances to literature, corridors beneath tons of concrete, rooms housing sacred voodoo shrines, and labyrinthine passageways so perplexing in their construction that their absurdity can only be likened to the experiences encountered in dreams.

Mike Nelson (born in Loughborough, England) lives and works in London. He represented the United Kingdom at the Venice Biennale in 2011, and his work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions around the world, including the off-site project A Psychic Vacuum, Creative Time, New York (2007); Tate Triennial (2009); Psycho Buildings at the Hayward Gallery (2008); September 11 at MoMA PS1 (2011); as well as in various biennials (Venice 2001, Sydney 2002, Istanbul 2003, São Paulo 2004, Singapore 2011).

Mike Nelson has been represented by 303 Gallery, New York; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; Matt’s Gallery, London; and neugerriemschneider, Berlin.