NUG

Bio

NUG – TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT: I DON’T KNOW

In his 2013 book I AM JUST TRYING TO BE NICE, NUG writes that he wants to make the energy of style writing visible. It can be easily recognized and clearly reflected in his expressive, explosive-looking paintings. But it can’t just be found in the black of the lines. The energy is also in the spaces in between. There is a pattern underlying the supposed chaos, a balance that points to a special effort, because to create this art in the same way over and over again must be immensely strenuous.

Since NUG was one of the first to push the boundaries of style writing twenty years ago, the immediacy of his paint application and the truth that emerges from it has been the aspect that moves the viewer. The construction of his paintings, which results from the many individual, sometimes brutal, sometimes light lines, reaches beyond the limits of the surface and challenges our imagination. The short films he made with his artist friend Pike, or his filmed performances, were entertaining, but only briefly distracted from the questions of what mind had conceived them, and what was their intention? At its core, it is probably the truthfulness that makes NUG’s work so fascinating.