Nils Norman

Last updated

Nils Norman (born 1966) is an artist living in London. He works across the disciplines of public art, architecture and urban planning. His projects challenge notions of the function of public art and the efficacy of mainstream urban planning and large-scale regeneration. Informed by local politics and ideas on alternative economic, ecological systems and play, Norman's work merges utopian alternatives with current urban design to create a humorous critique of the discrete histories and functions of public art and urban planning. Norman was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark, at the School of Walls and Space from 2009 until 2017. [1]

Contents

Life and career

Early life

Norman was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, England in 1966 and lived there until 1979. In 1979 his parents moved to Bexhill, East Sussex. He attended Bexhill High School, Bexhill Sixth Form College and he did his Art Foundation at Hastings College of Arts and Technology. He studied fine Art Painting BA Hons at St. Martins School of Art in London. After graduating in 1989 he moved to Cologne, Germany. There he lived for three years and collaborated with the artists Stephan Dillemuth and Josef Strau at the experimental storefront project Friesenwall 120, during this time Norman also set up a small gallery space in London, which later became Milch. In Cologne Norman worked for one year assisting the German painter Gerhard Richter in his atelier.

Norman founded an experimental space called Poster Studio on Charing Cross Road, London. This space was a collaborative effort with Merlin Carpenter and Dan Mitchell. In 1998 in New York he set up Parasite, together with the artist Andrea Fraser, a collaborative artist led initiative that developed an archive for site-specific projects. [2]

Norman's first US exhibition was at the Pat Hearn Gallery in Chelsea (with Denis Balk and Simon Leung), after which he began to be represented by the late Colin Deland at American Fine Arts.

Public works

Norman exhibits and generates projects and collaborations in museums and galleries internationally. [3]

Norman has completed major public art projects, including a pedestrian bridge, small playgrounds and a landscaping project for the City of Roskilde. [4] He has participated in various biennials worldwide and has developed commissions for SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY; London Underground, UK; Tate Modern, UK ; Loughborough University, UK; Creative Time, NYC and the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland. [5] [6]

In 2007, his work was on show at Tate Modern in the Global Cities exhibition, his presentation featured a series of posters displaying ecological and environmental information. [7] In her 2006 survey Beyond Green, Stephanie Smith highlighted Norman's interest in the apparent homogenization of urban spaces resultant from regeneration projects. [8] It has been claimed that "Norman’s work has been compared to the urban projects of artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Robert Smithson, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Krzysztof Wodiczko.". [9] He has been a regular contributor to Mute magazine. [10]

Norman takes inspiration from the work of anarchist theorist Colin Ward, going as far as experimenting with Ward's 1973 book "Streetwork". [11] Norman has also referenced the efforts of Cedric Price, especially those set forth in Price's "Non-Plan". [12]

In 2010 Norman developed two small-scale urban farming parks in the Hague, the Netherlands, that test and question the limitations and potentialities of permaculture as a possible citywide alternative design strategy for urban centres [13] [14] They are an ongoing project and can be visited by the public. He is also the lead artist for the city of Cambridge's project to redevelop part of Trumpington, an area on the city's southern fringe – developing play elements, four pedestrian bridges, bird screens and street furniture. In 2016 Norman was invited as an artist and consultant to develop a play strategy and designs for Mereside in Blackpool this is an ongoing project and he has worked closely with the local community of Mereside to develop ideas for two new play areas. In 2015 he St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff, Wales commissioned Norman to develop a new playground for the museum that reflects its collection of Welsh historical artefacts, the playground will be completed in Spring 2017.

In collaboration with the artist Gareth Jones Norman has been researching and designing a new public art strategy called City Club for the area around the Milton Keynes Gallery in Milton Keynes. Norman has also been collaborating with the Welsh artist Owen Griffiths on a public realm project in Trebanog, Wales. Working closely with children and parents locally to develop designs for their public spaces, commissioned by Artis Mundi. In 2017 he will complete a new library design for the Rietveld Art Academy Amsterdam. He was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark, where he led the School of Walls and Space until June 2017. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Wallinger</span> British artist (born 1959)

Mark Wallinger is an English artist. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation State Britain. His work Ecce Homo (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Labyrinth (2013), a permanent commission for Art on the Underground, was created to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground. In 2018, the permanent work Writ in Water was realized for the National Trust to celebrate where Magna Carta was signed at Runnymede.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land art</span> Art movement of the 1960s and 1970s

Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United States but that also includes examples from many countries. As a trend, "land art" expanded boundaries of art by the materials used and the siting of the works. The materials used were often the materials of the Earth, including the soil, rocks, vegetation, and water found on-site, and the sites of the works were often distant from population centers. Though sometimes fairly inaccessible, photo documentation was commonly brought back to the urban art gallery.

Carey Young is a visual artist whose work is often inspired by law, politics and economics. The tools, language and architectures of these fields act as material for her videos, text works, performances and photographs, often developing from the professional cultures she explores. In her early video works, she donned attire appropriate to the business and legal worlds, enacting scenarios which examine and question each institution's power to shape society and individual identity. Since 2002, Young developed a large body of work addressing and critiquing law in relation to ideas of site, gender and performance. Young teaches at the Slade School of Fine Art in London where she is an Associate Professor in Fine Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vito Acconci</span> American designer, landscape architect, performance and installation artist

Vito Acconci was an American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His performance and video art was characterized by "existential unease," exhibitionism, discomfort, transgression and provocation, as well as wit and audacity, and often involved crossing boundaries such as public–private, consensual–nonconsensual, and real world–art world. His work is considered to have influenced artists including Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, Bruce Nauman, and Tracey Emin, among others.

Catherine Yass is an English artist known for her wall-mounted lightboxes.

Marjetica Potrč is an artist and architect based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Potrč's interdisciplinary practice includes on-site projects, research, architectural case studies, and drawings. Her work documents and interprets contemporary architectural practices and the ways people live together. She is especially interested in social architecture and how communities and governments can work together to make stronger, more resilient cities. In later projects, she has also focused on the relationship between human society and nature, and advocated for the rights of nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olafur Eliasson</span> Danish-Icelandic artist

Olafur Eliasson is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience.

Art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience, venue/space or situation. It is in the category of conceptual art and is commonly a form of performance art. It is associated with Letterist International, Situationist International, Viennese Actionists, the Dada movement and Neo-Dadaists. More latterly, intervention art has delivered Guerrilla art, street art plus the Stuckists have made extensive use of it to affect perceptions of artworks they oppose and as a protest against existing interventions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Gillick</span> English artist (born 1964)

Liam Gillick is a British artist who lives and works in New York City. Gillick deploys multiple forms to make visible the aesthetics of the constructed world and examine the ideological control systems that have emerged along with globalization and neoliberalism. He utilizes materials that resemble everyday built environments, transforming them into minimalist abstractions that deliver commentaries on social constructs, while also exploring notions of modernism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Smith (performance artist)</span> American artist (born 1951)

Michael Smith is an American artist known for his performance, video and installation works. He emerged in the mid-1970s at a time when performance and narrative-based art was beginning to claim space in contemporary art. Included among the Pictures Generation artists, he also appropriated pop culture, using television conventions rather than tropes from static media. Since 1979, much of Smith's work has centered on an Everyman character, "Mike," that he has portrayed in various domestic, entrepreneurial and artistic endeavors. Writers have described his videos and immersive installations as "poker-faced parodies" that sit on the edge between art and entertainment, examining ideas, cultural shifts and absurdities involving the American dream, consumerism, the art world, and aging. Village Voice critic Jerry Saltz called Smith "a consummate explorer of the land of the loser … limning a fine line between reality and satire [in] a genre sometimes called installation verité."

Olivia Plender is an artist based in London and Stockholm. She is known for her installations, performances, videos, and comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Rodrigues da Silva</span>

Francisco Rodrigues da Silva also known as "Nunca" is a Brazilian artist who uses a graffiti technique to create images that confront modern urban Brazil with its native past. His name Nunca is an affirmation of his determination not to be bound by cultural or psychological constraints. Nunca is one of the most famous street artists of his generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier</span>

Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier are artists based in London who have collaborated for the past 25 years. Their studio encompasses a wide variety of media including films, books, large-scale installations and photographic and sculptural works. They have created a number of major public commissions.

Dryden Goodwin based in London, is a British artist known for his intricate drawings, often in combination with photography and live action video; he creates films, gallery installations, projects in public space, etchings, works on-line and soundtracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theaster Gates</span> American artist

Theaster Gates is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Liversidge</span> British artist

Peter Liversidge is a British contemporary artist notable for his diverse artistic practice and use of proposals.

Rokni Haerizadeh is an Iranian artist living and working in Dubai. He participated in the Carnegie International in 2013. He is part of a collective Ramin, Rokni, Hesam

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Winstanley</span> British painter and photographer

Paul Winstanley is a British painter and photographer based in London. Since the late 1980s, he has been known for meticulously rendered, photo-based paintings of uninhabited, commonplace, semi-public interiors and nondescript landscapes viewed through interior or vehicle windows. He marries traditional values of the still life and landscape genres—the painstaking transcription of color, light, atmosphere and detail—with contemporary technology and sensibilities, such as the sparseness of minimalism. His work investigates observation and memory, the process of making and viewing paintings, and the collective post-modern experience of utopian modernist architecture and social space. Critics such as Adrian Searle and Mark Durden have written that Winstanley's art has confronted "a crisis in painting," exploring mimesis and meditation in conjunction with photography and video; they suggest he "deliberately confuses painting's ontology" in order to potentially reconcile it with those mediums.

Alice Channer is a British sculptor based in London. Known for her sculptures and mixed media works that explore our relationship to objects, Channer uses materials ranging from metal and concrete to textiles and paper.

Sidsel Meineche Hansen is a visual artist based in London.

References

  1. Walls and Space
  2. Urbis September 2007
  3. City Projects, "Press Release: Nils Norman: THE HOMERTON PLAYSCAPE MULTIPLE STRUGGLE NICHE," May 2005 (accessed via Projects—Nils Norman—About)
  4. The Trekkroner Art Plan Project urban-matters.org [ dead link ]
  5. "The University of Trash: Michael Cataldi and Nils Norman". SculptureCenter. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  6. Díaz, Eva (2011). "Dome Culture in the Twenty-first Century". Grey Room. 42: 80–105. doi:10.1162/grey_a_00020. ISSN   1526-3819.
  7. Tate Modern, Global Cities Archived 18 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Stephanie Smith, Beyond Green: toward a sustainable art (Chicago: Smart Museum, 2006), p. 1932
  9. Jennifer Allen, "Utopia Now: the art of Nils Norman," Artforum, January 2002.
  10. Mute Magazine including the covers of issue – The Creative City in Ruins and – It's Not Easy Being Green
  11. Street Work
  12. "Nils Norman: Undercover".
  13. "Eetbaar Park - Eetbaar Park". Archived from the original on 20 June 2012.
  14. Demos, T. J. (1 April 2012). "Art after nature: The post-natural condition". Artforum International. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  15. School of Walls and Space