Nicky Sparre Ulrich: Traces of the Oblivion

Young Danish artist Nicky Sparre-Ulrich is showing his first solo exhibition Traces of the Oblivion at Gether Contemporary. Working with a variation of printing techniques the artist looks back to uncover and map meanings and rituals throughout culture and time.

With a deep rooted interest in African culture and especially the Ba-Kuba tribe of The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sparre-Ulrich explores the cultural debris when different cultures collide.

A meeting with a foreigner on a motorcycle in the 1920’ties had such a great impression on the Ba-Kuba, that the pattern from his tiretracks made it into their textiles and graphic language. This pattern can also be seen in the works of Nicky Sparre-Ulrich, where he incoporates it into his workss making it function almost like a watermark, creating a baseline for the understanding of his practice.

His works layer upon layer mimics the passing of time and the mixing of different cultural currents. From our modern pictorial language to ancient tribal imagery we look back through time into oblivion to try and make out the beginnings of our culture and where we come from.

Kilde: Gether Contemporary