“Man and his environment are more intimate than a snail and its shell”
(Videl de la Blanche; Principles of Human Geography, 1922)
Nadine Baldow’s practice focuses on the Anthropocene; the impact and history of human traces on the planet. Her exhibition TOPOPHILIA addresses the relationship between culture and nature in the rural landscapes of Northwest Ireland. The topography of the land, its layers of use and modified habitations are connected with feelings of attachment, belonging, excitement, and alienation. Structures such as Iron Age ring forts, rural buildings, field systems sit alongside intensive Sitka plantations and evidence of human waste. In time these forms establish diverse geological strata, each layer betraying the sedimented yet shifting values of the cultural forces that produced them.
After walking the land observing how it is shaped by human and physical forces, Baldow questioned predominant land value systems attached to current landscape politics through her provocative use of materials, juxtaposing an ancient plant form, moss with man-made polyurethane foam, scrap metals, discarded fence materials, building gravel, and acidic pine needles.
Nadine Baldow
Nadine Baldow (b. 1990, Dresden, Germany) is a visual artist based in Berlin whose work predominately addresses the complex relationship between "culture" and "nature" and their ongoing impact on each other.
She studied with professor Eberhard Bosslet, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden after completing a woodcarving apprenticeship in the Alps - she completed her studies as "Meisterschüler". She has been scholarship holder of the artist-in-residence-program in the Himalayas in India (KYTA Foundation), at Gozo Contemporary in Malta (the META Foundation), the National Park Sumava in Czech, Leitrim Sculpture Centre (ArtsCouncil Ireland), the nature conservation island Vilm in Germany (German Federal Agency for Nature, BfN), Urban Nation - museum for urban contemporary art in Berlin (Stiftung Berliner Leben), Halle 14 - the Center for Contemporary Arts in Leipzig, Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen and in Seoul, South Korea in cooperation with the Hansung University.
Baldow produced several public space interventions in South Korea, India, and Germany. Her work has been exhibited in Switzerland, Ireland, Malta, Germany, Poland, Czech, the Netherlands, South Korea, and India. Numerous galleries and museums such as Haus am Lützowplatz Berlin, Kunstmuseum Heidenheim, Urban Nation - Museum for Urban Contemporary Arts Berlin, Valletta Contemporary (Malta), Leitrim Sculpture Centre (Ireland), Halle 14 - Center for Contemporary Arts (Leipzig, Germany) have featured Nadine Baldow's work in the past. She has been represented on several art fairs, such as the Contemporary Art Week Delhi, OSTRALE - the International Exhibition for Contemporary Art in Dresden, and the ArtFair Düsseldorf.
Curated by Sean O'Reilly
Baldow’s Professional Development Residency 2021/22 at LSC was funded and supported by Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal German Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media); Förderprogramm "Neustart-Kultur"; Bild-Kunst Kulturwerk and Soudal industrial products.
