About
The motifs in the work of Nicolas Dings are derived from the ethics and aesthetics of the Renaissance. using diverse materials such as bronze, ceramics, plastic and textiles, he connects the material and the symbolic with the physical and the more spiritual in a contemporary way. In doing so, he creates a quirky and humorous universe with plenty of room for association. His visual language has already been tested socially and politically and still appears to be satisfactory. Because anyone who respects memory naturally becomes an explorer of fantasy.
FELLOW TRAVELERS
In the Museum for the Mission in Steyl NL you can put a coin in a stuffed bear and then he starts to hum. The monastery building was chock a block with a collection of exotic, stuffed animals, Asian and African objects and a huge collection of prepared butterflies. Everything brought back by monks to make the future missionaries familiar with the culture and nature of the countries where they would go.
Recently we went to visit the now refurbished museum. The bear Is completely restored and still enjoys receiving small change. The collection presentation Is traditionally very exuberant, but the monks are no longer there.
In the Museum for the Mission in Steyl NL you can put a coin in a stuffed bear and then he starts to hum. The monastery building was chock a block with a collection of exotic, stuffed animals, Asian and African objects and a huge collection of prepared butterflies. Everything brought back by monks to make the future missionaries familiar with the culture and nature of the countries where they would go.
Recently we went to visit the now refurbished museum. The bear Is completely restored and still enjoys receiving small change. The collection presentation Is traditionally very exuberant, but the monks are no longer there.
AMBRAS
The large-scale Ambras Castle near Innsbruck, built in the sixteenth century commissioned by art and curios collector, Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529-1595) forms a similar interesting experience to visit, consisting of an Oberschloss and an Unterschloss with various art collections. Ferdinand built the castle for his wife Philippine Welser. After their death it remained in the hands of the Habsburgs but was hardly occupied
anymore. The castle came into the possession of the Austrian government after the First World War and in the 1950s it was handed over to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna as a branch – to date.
It is situated against the backdrop of the snowy mountains that surround Innsbruck. In the Rüstkammer one is welcomed by an army of knights, a huge collection of armor and cuirasses. A giant version and a child’s size one stand proudly next to each other, accompanied
by horses, weaponry and shields belonging to the combat equipment.
WUNDERKAMMER
In the left wing, the Kunst- and Wunderkammer is situated, where people are welcomed by marble heads of emperors from ancient Rome, displayed in 85 niches in the wall. The art and curiosity cabinet has been collected mainly by Ferdinand himself. It is one of the most important and intact collections of exotica in Europe. Fascinating are two paintings of natural wonders, a father and his daughter, Pedro and Maddalena Gonzalez from Tenerife, whose faces and skin are completely hairy, because of a rare disease.
They were shown at the European courts as a curiosity. There is also a portrait of Vladimir Tepes, better known as Dracula, and of a man struck with a javelin in the middle of his skull, who just went on living. All kinds of objects are displayed, for example skeletons in an ivory cabinet, and rather special is also the late medieval Tödlein, or Tiny Dead, an endearing figurine in pear wood.
Toys, scientific inventions, musical instruments and objects from Africa and Asia are all part of the collection, as well as sculptures and images of coral, paper, bronze, palm leaf, silver, gold, wood and fabric, all exhibited in glass showcases. For Nicolas Dings, the collection has always been a beacon of spiritual and cultural-historical information. A visual language as a source for his own work. The fascinating imaginary world that is on show, has always provided him with associative assistance for his own works of art. Sometimes these elements can be recognized, although often hidden and/or used conceptually.
AMBRAS
The large-scale Ambras Castle near Innsbruck, built in the sixteenth century commissioned by art and curios collector, Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529-1595) forms a similar interesting experience to visit, consisting of an Oberschloss and an Unterschloss with various art collections. Ferdinand built the castle for his wife Philippine Welser. After their death it remained in the hands of the Habsburgs but was hardly occupied
anymore. The castle came into the possession of the Austrian government after the First World War and in the 1950s it was handed over to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna as a branch – to date.
It is situated against the backdrop of the snowy mountains that surround Innsbruck. In the Rüstkammer one is welcomed by an army of knights, a huge collection of armor and cuirasses. A giant version and a child’s size one stand proudly next to each other, accompanied
by horses, weaponry and shields belonging to the combat equipment.
WUNDERKAMMER
In the left wing, the Kunst- and Wunderkammer is situated, where people are welcomed by marble heads of emperors from ancient Rome, displayed in 85 niches in the wall. The art and curiosity cabinet has been collected mainly by Ferdinand himself. It is one of the most important and intact collections of exotica in Europe. Fascinating are two paintings of natural wonders, a father and his daughter, Pedro and Maddalena Gonzalez from Tenerife, whose faces and skin are completely hairy, because of a rare disease.
They were shown at the European courts as a curiosity. There is also a portrait of Vladimir Tepes, better known as Dracula, and of a man struck with a javelin in the middle of his skull, who just went on living. All kinds of objects are displayed, for example skeletons in an ivory cabinet, and rather special is also the late medieval Tödlein, or Tiny Dead, an endearing figurine in pear wood.
Toys, scientific inventions, musical instruments and objects from Africa and Asia are all part of the collection, as well as sculptures and images of coral, paper, bronze, palm leaf, silver, gold, wood and fabric, all exhibited in glass showcases. For Nicolas Dings, the collection has always been a beacon of spiritual and cultural-historical information. A visual language as a source for his own work. The fascinating imaginary world that is on show, has always provided him with associative assistance for his own works of art. Sometimes these elements can be recognized, although often hidden and/or used conceptually.
HOME
My home is my castle is the saying, but the world is drifting, seasons no longer stick to the rules and entire tribes move over each other in
search of belonging. Nicolas Dings is an artist who reports on this. In a world where collecting has become virtual, Dings, indebted to the Habsburgs, Ferdinand II, Rudolf II from Prague and writers as Joseph Roth and Arthur Rimbaud, but also to young Dylan and master Bach, draws from a visual language that is not always comprehensible but passionately ours.
Truus Gubbels, PhD
HOME
My home is my castle is the saying, but the world is drifting, seasons no longer stick to the rules and entire tribes move over each other in
search of belonging. Nicolas Dings is an artist who reports on this. In a world where collecting has become virtual, Dings, indebted to the Habsburgs, Ferdinand II, Rudolf II from Prague and writers as Joseph Roth and Arthur Rimbaud, but also to young Dylan and master Bach, draws from a visual language that is not always comprehensible but passionately ours.
Truus Gubbels, PhD