Erik Niedling (born 1973 in Erfurt, Thuringia) is a German artist. He is also known for his 2010 film The Future of Art, a documentary on the contemporary art scene.
Life and works Niedling was raised in Erfurt and lives in Berlin.Biography on the website of Hamish Morison Galerie . His works revolve around the construction of history, the traces that history left in the collective mind. Later works are also marked with questions on collecting, archiving and organising, whereby the preservation and (fictitious) disappearance of one's own identity comes to the fore.
Since the mid-2000s, Niedling has established himself as a conceptual artist. Along with Ingo Niermann he directed and produced the documentary The Future of Art. It consist of interviews with contemporary artists, critics, and collectors such as Olafur Eliasson, Harald Falckenberg, Damien Hirst, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Marina Abramović, Olaf Breuning, Terence Koh, Genesis P-Orridge, Boris Groys, and Tobias Rehberger.See reviews in the art magazines "Monopol" and "art." In the course of the film, Niermann develops the idea of a pyramid mountain as a work of art, which is also the individual burial place of a collector. At the end of the shooting, Niermann transferred the idea to Erik Niedling, who has since continued it in sometimes radical art projects. In particular, "Mein letztes Jahr" (My last year), in which Niedling, implementing a drill by Ingo Niermann, consistently lived for one year in the period from 1 March 2011 to 29 February 2012, as if it were his last.Kito Nedo: Erik Niedling In: Frieze, 13 February 2012. This was followed by exhibitions, publications and artistic actions Silke Hohmann: Kunstaktion auf Ebay. Hübsche Katze mit dunklem Grusel In: Monopol Magazin, 04 May 2021. dealing with the realisation of the pyramid mountain and research into radical political movements.Erik Niedling: Dokumentationszentrum Thüringen Exhibition In: EXILE (gallery), 27 April 2022.Erik Niedling: Dokumentationszentrum Thüringen Catalogue In: EXILE (gallery)| EXILE, 27 April 2022. On 8 May 2017, Niedling performed a ritual possession (Seizure) of the mountain Kleiner Gleichberg in the district of Hildburghausen (Thuringia) for the first time, where since then the "Burial of the White Man" has been held on the mountain every 8 May. A critical reflection of his activities took place through publications ("The Future of Art: A Diary", 2012), interviews and most recently with the novel "Burial of the White Man" (Sternberg Press 2019).
Selected exhibitions Source:Cf. the complete list of exhibitions on the artist's homepage or on artfacts.net. 2005; Archiv, Goethe-Institut, Bratislava 2006; Was ist deutsch? (group exhibition), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg 2008; Formation, Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin 2010; Status, Angermuseum, Erfurt 2010; Redox, Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin 2011; "Mein letztes Jahr", Tobias Naehring, Leipzig 2012; 18.10.1973—29.02.2012, Neues Museum Weimar, Weimar 2018; "The Future of Art: A Camp" – Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin 2021; "2048 (Cat, Man, Rider, Triangle)" – Galerie Tobias Naehring, Berlin 2022; "Dokumentationszentrum Thüringen" – EXILE, Wien
Publications Wolfram Morath-Vogel, ed. (2006). "Fotografien = Photographs / Erik Niedling." Cologne: Schaden.com. Österreichisches Institut für Photographie und Medienkunst, ed. (2007). "Status / Erik Niedling." Vienna: ÖIP. ZERN, ed. (2008). "Formation / Erik Niedling." Contributions by Bernd Stiegler and Ingo Niermann. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz. Erik Niedling with Ingo Niermann (2012). "The Future of Art: A Diary." With texts by Tom McCarthy, Erik Niedling, Ingo Niermann, and Amy Patton. Berlin: Sternberg Press. Erik Niedling with Ingo Niermann (2019). "Burial of the White Man". With contributions by Ann Cotten and Jakob Nolte. Berlin: Sternberg Press.
References
External links
Official website Future of Art Interview with Erik Niedling & Ingo Niermann (The Tait Global, November 23, 2010) Niedling's profile on Exile (Gallery)