Nick van Woert

Born 1979 in Reno, Nevada
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York

Nicholas van Woert‘s works draw on the tools and rituals developed throughout Western Civilization. They simultaneously criticize and surrender to the built environment and our tendency towards territorial and material expansion. Van Woert believes in the semantics of material. Common materials are imbued with meaning through our daily relationship to them outside of the context of Art.
His practice is rooted in the artist‘s interest in architecture, ancient history, and nature. Growing up in Reno, Nevada situated the artist between the city‘s gaudy, over-accessorized buildings and the raw, unadorned natural landscape of the surrounding desert. The stark contrast between the way elements are made in nature with the landscape constantly changing through erosion and accretion and the way they are fabricated in the city provides both figurative and conceptual inspiration for Van Woert.
Nicholas van Woert holds an MA in Fine Arts from Parsons the New School for Design, New York and a BA in Architecture from the University of Oregon, Eugene.

EXHIBITIONS:
05.11. - March 2012
THE EPHEMERAL
Group show with works by:
Absalon | Moridja Kitenge Banza | Joseph Beuys | Hanne Darboven | Wim Delvoye | Rebecca Horn | Mathilde ter Heijne | Jannis Kounellis | Keisuke Matsuura | Christian Megert | Heinz Mack | David Noonan | Henk Peeters | Otto Piene | Jackson Pollock | Julian Rosefeldt | Matt Saunders | Chiharu Shiota | Miroslav Tichý | Grazia Toderi | Susan Turcot | Franz West | Nick van Woert | Yang Jiechang

Nick van Woert, Untitled, 2011, fiberglass, steel, coal slag, urethane, 180 x 50 x 50 cm | 70.87 x 19.69 x 19.69 in, WOER0002 Nick van Woert, Untitled, 2011, fiberglass, steel, coal slag, urethane, 180 x 50 x 50 cm | 70.87 x 19.69 x 19.69 in, WOER0002