Olnetopia 2019

inox, polyurethane and polyester

The Belgian artist Nick Ervinck (1981) is especially fascinated by the ‘negative space’ as he discovered it with classical sculptors such as Henry Moore. Like Moore, Nick Ervinck pays a lot of attention to how a sculpture relates to space. Ervinck makes the biomorphic object in a pronounced color which seems to question the world in which they are placed.

He himself says about this: ‘My work is always based on the contrasts between nature, culture, and between old and new. I am one of the first artists to work with digital technology, but I use traditional methods. Such as sculpture, ceramics, and so on. You could describe my world as a cross-pollination between the virtual and the physical world.” Ervinck does so with his own virtual museum Museion, which can be visited free of charge and is open day and night. Here too you will find his fascination for the changing game between the physical and virtual world. In his work, he explores classical themes such as men, with a focus on his anatomy and the emergence of cyborgs.

With plants, he especially focuses on their genetic manipulation. He also uses masks and animal themes. Always working from an art-historical background he intersects the contemporary pop and science fiction cultures. This produces special and intriguing images such as the image ‘Olnetopia’ in which the fascination for Henry Moore is unmistakably reflected.