What’s lacking in the 2011 Istanbul Biennial, writes Walker director Olga Viso is “an indefatigable spirit of generosity and faith in the potential of art to not only transcribe the exigencies of the present moment but transcend them too.”

IN ALL THE ARTS THERE IS A PHYSICAL COMPONENT WHICH CAN NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED OR TREATED AS IT USED TO BE, WHICH CANNOT REMAIN UNAFFECTED BY OUR MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND POWER. FOR THE LAST TWENTY…

The following e-mail correspondence between Walker visual arts curator Siri Engberg and Alec Soth took place as they organized From Here to There: Alec Soth’s America, on view at the Walker Art Center September 12, 2010–January 2, 2011. Excerpts appeared in “How to Be Alone and Loved by Millions,” in the September/October 2010 issue of Walker magazine. Siri Engberg What led you to photography? Alec Soth …

With a new commission and works dating back to the 1950s, the exhibition Abstract Resistance brings together now-legendary figures as well as younger artists who have revolted against the aesthetic orthodoxies of their times. While these pieces do not conform to a single theme, they are united in challenging what is expected of art, from the way it looks to the role it plays in society at large…

Over the years, the Walker has invited more than 200 artists from different disciplines to spend time at the institution working on various projects. This fall, in conjunction with her solo exhibition, Haegue Yang arrived with several new twists on the artist-in-residence concept, which, as she says, “normally implies an artist visiting to provide the institution with something—a commissioned work, a…

Dan Graham’s Two-way Mirror Punched Steel Hedge Labyrinth has been on permanent display in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden since 1996. Visiting the Walker on a sunny morning last August, the artist and a few curators strolled down to look at the work. They were delighted to find a couple with their two toddlers running around the “pavilion,” captivated by the effect of the mirrors and glass through…

The way that exhibitions originate often plays a determining role in their final execution, and the kernels of inspiration are frequently the most enduring. The idea for Benches & Binoculars began about a year ago with a photograph from an early moment in Walker history. It shows a domestic interior with objects—including a dense array of paintings—stacked floor to ceiling in a salon display style…