Nick van Woert: Breaking and Entering at Yvon Lambert New York

NICK VAN WOERT, Breaking and Entering 
Yvon Lambert New York
February 26 - April 6, 2011

NICK VAN WOERT  

© Nick van Woert, Courtesy of Yvon Lambert, Paris-New York

Yvon Lambert presents Breaking and Entering, NICK VAN WOERT's first solo exhibition in the United States. Breaking and Entering will feature all new sculpture by the artist, and a sixty-eight-page color catalogue of Nick van Woert's work will  accompany this exhibition. 

Nick van Woert's 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 Nick van Woert.  

In college, Nick van Woert studied architecture, a discipline that greatly influences his work. For the artist, the focus is on the evolution of building materials (from stone to styrofoam), and using that to develop a material language. His architectural interests are diverse, including Vitruvius's Primitive Hut, the Modernist school's emphasis on being true to materials and not concealing structural forces, as well as the modified architecture of radical “back-to-nature” groups. Nick Van Woert even borrows material recipes from these ecoterrorists, using elements such as polyurethane, packing peanuts, steel, fiberglass, as well as hair gel and chlorine (which when mixed can become destructive). 

For this exhibition, Nick van Woert dissects found sculptures, often  presenting the works as manipulated versions of their former selves. Breaking and Entering also refers to a recent robbery at van Woert's studio, in which thieves broke a window to enter the space. This was a formative experience for the artist, as the force used by the intruders to enter and alter his environment reflects the motives behind Nick van Woert's own sculptural practice. 

NICK VAN WOERT (b.1979, Reno, Nevada) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He has been featured in exhibitions at venues including Yvon Lambert, Paris; Yvon Lambert, New  York;  Collection Lambert, Avignon, France; Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Nudashank, Baltimore, MD; and Fourteen30, Portland, OR. 

Yvon Lambert New York
550 West 21 Street, New York
www.yvon-lambert.com