Juan Muñoz at the Clark

The celebrated Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz (1953-2001) died at the height of his powers, when he was considered one of the most complex and individual artists working today (Guardian). His challenging, enigmatic works almost inexorably draw in viewers. The spectator, Muñoz said about his installations, becomes very much like the object to be looked at, and perhaps the viewer has become the one who is on view.

This handsome book, distinguished by more than 30 stunning photographs, documents a group of Muñoz installations at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Representing the full range of Muñoz's sculpturesfrom First Banister (1987), which reflects the artist's early use of architectural language, to Conversation Piece (2001), a work that shows his later interest in the human figurethe book demonstrates how Muñoz invented a mode of storytelling through objects that spoke to space, memory, and displacement. David Breslin contributes a reflection on notions of interiority and exteriority, and of perception and absorption, as expressed in Muñoz's work.