EXHIBITIONS

NK Gallery is pleased to present GNI-RI MAR2014, the solo exhibition by Belgian artist Nick Ervinck. The show consists of a series of Lightboxes, prints, polyester sculptures, and 3D prints.

 

At the basis of the creation of Nick Ervinck’s body of work is his use of an archive of digital forms and sketches. Excerpts from this unlimited digital sketchbook lead to the creation of monumental forms, made of painted polyester, plaster and wood. Ervinck’s abstract sculptures puzzle the mind upon closer inspection. Similar to a Rorschach test, the meaning one gives to the work will depend on one’s own imagination. It can not be reduced to existing forms.

 

Within the exhibit are shapes of chinese rock formations, baroque and rococo motifs, manga imagery and details of medical manuals. All digitally reproduced, mirrored, distorted and rebuilt again by Ervinck. This organic imagery is reminiscent of the endoskeleton of a new life born through digital technology. Like a cyborg, his oeuvre is a sensational whole, whose various components are interrelated: fragments of animals, corals, bodies, machines, etc. Ervinck’s fascination with artificial, biological and robotic elements generates unearthly objects of fascination for us.

 

The cross-fertilization between the real and the virtual allows endless explorations and possibilities. New technologies open artistic paths which were previously in the realm of the impossible. To quote Hans Theys: “Henry Moore would never have been able to make it because the form is much too complicated. Ervinck can make this form because he can design it in 3D programs. Here we see a fine example of how the simultaneous progress he makes with 3D drawings and traditional sculpting leads to new forms ”. Mirroring this augmented artistic reality, the forms shown in the exhibit create a dialogue within the existing space and always ask for a new perspective. Even the titles of the artworks are distorted and reversed so that the original words can hardly be traced. Reference points become obsolete, as a new frontier is being created.