Fifteen years after the much-debated Sonsbeek buiten de perken (Sonsbeek out of bounds), Sonsbeek '86 is considerably smaller. This time, most of the sculptures are placed in Park Sonsbeek, about half of which were made especially for the exhibition. Another part of the exhibition is in Gemeentemuseum Arnhem (now Museum Arnhem). The artistic director of sonsbeek ’86 is curator Saskia Bos. While during sonsbeek ’71 the works of art in the park were made for a specific location, many works in this edition are not suitable for the outdoors. These are housed in one of the three specially designed glass pavilions that deliberately look like greenhouses. Bos writes about this in the introduction to the catalogue: "Because more than ever, today's artworks are artificial products that do not adapt to nature, let alone merge with it."

The pavilions isolate most of the artworks from the park – and thus from reality and daily life. Because of their isolation, these works are not only more static and perhaps more artificial, but also more autonomous. The viewer’s attention is drawn to the works themselves (and the idea of ‘art for art’s sake’). Bos has placed an emphasis on artworks that can cause confusion because of their unusual texture. Yet other sculptures are much less mysterious. In short, sonsbeek ’86 shows the diverse developments in contemporary sculpture. Some artworks can be characterized as ‘museum art’, while others ‘blend in’ with Park Sonsbeek.