Niko Abramidis &NE »Creature PNL (CA)«

Creature PNL (eagle), 2023

The edition Creature PNL (eagle) consists of eight different metallic shiny plates. Niko Abramidis &NE relates them to a work from the well-known work cycle of the so-called Cryptic Machine Prototypes - enigmatic, archaic-looking machines or automata that seem to unite symbolism and technology from different periods of human evolution. Mystical colored light penetrates through raw steel. Enigmatic, indecipherable symbols and PIN pads suggest a possible functionality and operability of the machines by humans, which nevertheless remain inscrutable.

For Creature PNL (eagle), the artist hand-engraves each version of an eagle in wood, accompanied by a symbol reminiscent of a currency sign. The eagle typically functions as a symbol of power for governments and is often used to signify strength or to instill confidence.
It is not for no reason that the eagle often appears as a heraldic animal or is proudly emblazoned on banknotes and coins. The comic-like execution of the artist, however, pulls this symbol of supposed strength into the grotesque. Sometimes the eagle looks grim, sometimes almost pitiful.

As the title of the work suggests, references can also be made to Niko Abramidi's &NE's ongoing series of works entitled PNL, which translates drawings into engravings, where they are interwoven with sign systems. PNL stands for "profit and loss" in the world of finance. On various levels, the artist seems to be telling us that our often unshakable faith in the capitalist forces of the free market and its rulers may be unfounded.

Niko Abramidis &NE

Niko Abramidis &NE (*1987 in Europe) opens up a diverse spectrum dealing with economic structures and visions of the future. Within his drawings, paintings, sculptures and room installations, Niko Abramidis &NE develops parallel universes in which he creates fictitious corporate identities and appropriates forms of expression from financial economics. This also includes the play with words through signs, symbols and ciphers, via which he transfers his artistic ideas of myth and literary fiction. The artist develops a semiotics of archaic symbols paired with sketchy drawings, which he puts together using the latest technologies.

Niko Abramidis &NE studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Julian Rosefeldt and Markus Oehlen and at the Berlin University of the Arts with Byung-Chul Han. He is co-founder of the art space easy!upstream, which he artistically directed from 2015-2018. In 2018, he was awarded the prize ars viva for visual arts, which is awarded annually by the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e.V. This was followed by group exhibitions in 2019 at the Kunstmuseum Bern and at KAI 10 | Arthena Foundation in Düsseldorf. He also received an artist-in-residency grant on Fogo Island, Canada.

Read our studio story with Niko Abramidis &NE.

Artist text: Courtesy of max goelitz