Nick van Woert: Breaking and Entering

Yvon Lambert is pleased to present 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 of van Woert´s work will accompany this exhibition. Charles Sandison will be showing concurrently at the gallery, and both exhibitions will open with a reception for the artists on February 26 from 6-8pm and will be on view until April 6, 2011. 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 van Woert.

In college, 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. 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, 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 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.

Nick van Woert
Breaking and Entering