Nils-Udo

Digital printing and collage

H.73,5 x W.60,5 cm

H.89,5 x W.76 cm (with frame)

Bio

1937 Born in Lauf (Germany).

1955 Nils-Udo studied graphic arts in Nuremberg and later became a painter.

1960 He leaves Bavaria for Paris.

1972 He stops painting to devote himself entirely to art in Nature. He begins to create ephemeral and environmentally friendly works, shaped with the natural materials he gleaned. In this way, he creates large installations all over the world.

Since 2004, he returns to painting while continuing his installations in nature. Many personal exhibitions are dedicated to him, from Tokyo to Madrid, Strasbourg, Paris or Toronto.

Libération 2016

View of the facility 13 dead elm trees, 4 dead pine trees - Bar-Le-Luc 1985

By Nils-Udo (1937, Germany)

"This project is a real challenge for me. It is a question here of reinvesting a media object on a reduced surface whereas my works, often monumental, are realized in situ, in nature; moreover, the printing paper replaces the leaves of the trees or the ground which are my raw material of predilection; finally, whereas my approach is ephemeral to reduce my impact on the environment as much as possible, this one is intended to last. In both cases, however, the starting point is the same: it is my emotion in the face of natural phenomena, and my desire to represent nature. I am fortunate to have spent my childhood in the countryside, and these years have marked me for life. Today I have a strong ecological commitment. I chose to keep the original front page with only the logo and the title, which I find very effective, and to integrate a black and white photograph. It represents one of my in situ installations made in Bar-le-Duc from dead trees. I started this approach in 1984 in the Baie de Somme, and renewed it several times thereafter, notably at La Villette in Paris and Munich. Trees are indeed a shocking indicator and symbol of the forest's decline that I have been observing for forty years. I am not pessimistic, but realistic: current events are affecting nature, and are reflected in my work. I work with this reality. On this front page, the image and the text dialogue and reinforce each other. Together, they allow an immediate understanding of the message: global warming is real and harmful. But I remain modest about the impact of my work. I mostly reach people who are already aware, even if I hope to sensitize politicians and as many people as possible to the danger involved. »

EN