Nils Udo is a German artist from the mid 1900’s. He specializes in environmental art after realizing that the environment is endangered. Udo began by painting in Paris until he realized that he can include natural materials into his work. Soon after, he moved back to Bavaria and began to do his artwork outside and delved into environmental art. Udo does two types of artwork, one being sculptures with material he finds in nature and the other being environmental art that he brings back into cities. In almost all of his works, Nils primarily uses material that he finds in the space he is using. Eventually, Nils decided that he wanted to make something that would have a last effect. So, he turned to photography. By photography his natural art, Nils Udo has been able to sell this photographs and show how important nature is all over the world.
The piece of art that I focused on was his piece call Stone Age Man. This giant monument was created in 2001 in Wittgensteiner-Sauerland, Germany. It is a large temple shaped monument made of large tree trunks as the frame and a cube shaped rock. Everything that was used in this piece was found from the forest.
Nils Udo created this sculpture to highlight the fact that nature is forever and we are just living in it. The ancient temple shaped monument allows viewers to look at it and understand their vulnerability in life and nature. This work is in a German forest which allows those spending time in nature to admire its meaning.
This artist and art work is based in Germany but also connects to Germans sense of connection to nature and the forest. Germans have a word to describe their feeling in the forest, “Waldeinsamkeit” which translates to solitude in the forest. This solitude allows Germans to connect and appreciate nature for what it is. Udo continues to represent this in his art by creating natural sculptures in forests for Germans to admire.
Udo attempts to mimic nature in many of his works. While the Stone Age Man may not look like something that mimics nature, it represents the deep connection to nature that has been held over centuries. Other works of his also attempt to mimic the shape of animal made structures like nests and beaver dams. This shows his appreciation to works of art found naturally.
While Nils Udo creates these sculptures throughout the world, his appreciation stems from the culture of nature in Germany.
Nils Udo artwork “Stone-Age-Man” (photo found at https://www.komoot.com/highlight/232660)
Work Cited:
Grande, J. K. (2021, May 27). Nils-Udo: Nature works. Sculpture. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://sculpturemagazine.art/nils-udo-nature-works/
Nils Udo. Art for the Environment. (2016, June 2). Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://ecoartseurope.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/nils-udo/