NordArt 2013

We first saw NordArt two summers ago while visiting in northern Germany and decided then and there that this was something we wanted to repeat again and again.  NordArt is one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary art in Europe, with more than 200 artists from around the world.  It has taken place during the summer months since 1999.

This unassuming building houses the major part of NordArt

The major part of the exhibit is housed in Kunstwerk Carlshütte in the small town of Büdelsdorf in Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein.  A huge former foundry, with glass walls, upper story windows and skylights,  Carlshütte is a monstrous display space with an adjacent sculpture park, both which can accommodate huge sculptures and series works illuminated by huge banks of diffused light. Naturally, the industrial remnants of the foundry become part of the exhibit due to expert curator and artist Wolfgang Gramm making NordArt an all encompassing work in itself.

This year’s focus was on the Baltic States and many artists whose work is featured are from the former Eastern Block like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Czech Republic but there are also works from Germany, China, Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Chile and the United States.

NordArt is a treat for anyone who appreciates the visual arts and Jurgen and I approach it like a modern art photo-safari. Armed with cameras, we tend to go our separate ways, discovering the vast collection and capturing our visions singularly, only to come together after a few hours to share the excitement of our discoveries. Often, our images coincide.

There was a threat of rain in the afternoon (after all, this IS Schleswig-Holstein) so we started our adventure in the sculpture garden.  Here is a little of what we saw:

Fanciful, light and free, with some heavy reality thrown in,

 

along with some odd human-like forms and some not-so-friendly looking animals

 and this work below was Jurgen's favorite, interesting from many angles:

 Then we went in.  On to the inside of the building, the placement of the work in relationship to the industrial fixtures which remain just adds to the impact.

The building is so vast that just about anything goes.



One of the things I love most about modern art is the use of new materials, and I was not disappointed with this exhibit - a recycled rubber Buddha (about 12 ft. tall seated):

to works on black plastic trash bags covered with shipping tape with some plastic shopping bags added (left) and then another embellished with a red magic marker (right) with that "wet marker" effect you get when you try to mark up shipping tape!

Carved blocks of styrofoam

a cardboard city growing from the ceiling in a room full of boxes lit red

a room of mirrors (left) that slowly flashed and dimmed


a room of etched metal sheeting and painted panels (right)

to a sculpture of the human form using nails and wood entitled “Acupuncture”

 

ultraviolet paint on fabric

Plastic fasteners stretched one by one over a stainless steel frame and painted with acrylics entitled "Underwater"

Epoxy Portrait Study

Another memorable series included these guys (smaller than life size) on stilts,

who worked very well in the space

Also one obviously made for the space:  Man Watching TV

Not sure about the titles for these (plastic and lacquered fiber glass)

This one was by an Egyptian artist done in 2012 entitled "Democracy" (below) A German gentleman, also contemplating the work, commented to me that the men in the work were all reading the same newspaper.  He went on about how he thinks democracy is in danger all over the world.  

We agreed that the larger problem is unfettered capitalism.

Here are a few more interesting and thought-provoking images:

Men in plastic bubbles (part of a larger work)

Little girl carved from wood and painted with a blinking "bomb" strapped to her chest

Separate entities working together

A pasture growing inside the gallery

Another reason why we like NordArt so much is because there is usually a great deal of photography in the show, not so much straight photographs matted and framed like you would see in a photo gallery, but new works using photographic techniques and many, many photo-inspired images.

Photo Hallway

This is a fine execution of a photographic technique we have seen before where the large images are constructed of thousands of tiny faces:

Close up on image second from left

There seemed to be a prevailing theme throughout the show of negativity, cynicism, death (somewhat humorous), not uncommon in modern shows.  Oh, those modern artists - always trying to get down:

Death's Weekend - a very clever series in needlepoint by an American artist 

part of a Dracula Series (ahem)

wonder what he's thinking!

Funeral Procession - nice use of the reflecting pool

A very colorful take on a Russian cemetery

She's holding a slingshot.  Entitled "Oops!"  .......jokesters

After the main gallery, we wandered over to the adjacent Baltic Pavilion, which showed some more traditional methods by some artists from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.  Jurgen really liked these mixed media works.

And then, of course, the best part:  The meeting at the end of the adventure to sum up the day, talk about our favorite works and of course have Kaffee und Kuchen in the Alte Meierei (Old Mill) Cafe on the grounds (a venerable German tradition that I, for one, never get tired of!)

But don't miss NordArt if you get the chance.  It's a pretty great exhibit this year.

Thanks for reading - gl signing off....