Nils Adam #StencilArt 

Die Stencil Art von Nils Adam ordnet sich irgendwo zwischen Graffiti und Pop Art ein. Zum Teil auf Hintergründen aus Tinte und Acryl aufbauend bestehen die geschaffenen Werke aus mehreren Schichten Farbe, die durch die vom Künstler erstellten Schablo‐ nen (engl. = stencil) gesprüht wird. 

Nils Adam begann expressionistisch, über die Jahre eignete er sich fortlaufend neue Techniken an, um seinen kreativen Gedanken Ausdruck zu verleihen. An der Stencil Art fasziniert ihn die Möglichkeit, die genaue gegenständliche Darstellung mit seinen abstrakten Arbeitsweisen zu verschmelzen: „Auf diese Weise wird Street Art von der Straße in die Wohnung geholt“. 

Mehr über Nils Adam unter www.nilsadam.de oder auf Instagram @nils_adam_art 

Zur Eröffnung der Ausstellung am Freitag, den 17. Februar ab 20.00 Uhr, laden wir Sie und Ihre Freunde ganz herzlich ein. 

Die Ausstellung ist bis zum 11. März 2023 jeweils donnerstags, freitags und samstags von 17–20 Uhr geöffnet. 

Kaestorf. Just because his exhibition could not go as planned last year does not mean that Nils Adam throws the gun in the grain. Because this year the exhibition in the Helios Clinic will also be open to visitors from the beginning of July to the end of September, of that the 41-year-old artist is certain. His large-format paintings are said to be overwhelming. “It's nice when you walk into a room and - Wow!” Is how he describes the effect his works are supposed to have on the viewer.

Already in his childhood the Gifhorn lived here in a circle and even then he tried his hand at painting. But it wasn't until 2006 that things really started again after a break from painting for a few years. Four years later, in 2010, he exhibited for the first time. Since then, the project developer has been working steadily on his art, on his technology. At the moment he works mainly with printer ink and acrylic paint. His pictures have a relief, are held in light colors with some figurative figures in different shades of gray.

The months of the pandemic put a damper on Adam. His works were hanging in the Helios Clinic, but because no visitors were allowed there, only the people there saw his pictures. He didn't care, because it allowed the staff to enjoy his pictures. One of the works was dedicated to the subject of Corona - the word Corona was crossed out on a canvas. The employees of the clinic were able to immortalize themselves on it with sayings and sketches. But a little more range is not something an artist would complain about.

“I always try to create something that no one has done before,” says Adam. “How did he do it?” The artist should ask the viewer of his pictures. When he works on his pictures, he needs an average of one to two hours. If he starts a new picture, it takes even longer. But sometimes it's only ten minutes in which he makes a few brushstrokes.

He spends the rest of his time working as a project manager, doing sports or with his children. His daughter contracted the virus. She was infected from her grandmother. Adam tried to keep his distance, but a good night kiss also sent the tall artist into quarantine. He has recently been able to get out of his four walls in Kästorf.

Adam not only paints, he also tries other media. He has been experimenting with epoxy resins since 2017. He piles up branches or old lightbulbs in blocks, which he encapsulates in the crystal-clear resin. The Kästorfer builds functional lamps within the approximately 40 centimeter high resin blocks. Some are standing in his house and lighting the stairwell.

For the exhibition at the hospital, he also worked with another artist, Kayman from Wolfsburg. Adam made the background of the picture in his style. His colleague from Wolfsburg then marked it with the words “respect nature”. A seahorse forms the center of the picture. The artists plan to donate the proceeds from the sale of the painting to a good cause. Ultimately, the goal of the donation has not yet been decided, but the two agree: it should be about the environment.

Text and photos by Frank Spyra

Artist portrait

Nils Adam: In dialogue with the material

Nils Adam lets the white acrylic paint run over the canvas, then he adds black printer ink. The ink permeates the liquid acrylic paint, creating traces. Adam continues to work with white over it, letting it dry layer by layer, sometimes he scratches off the paint again, injuring the motif. The picture takes on depth. Sometimes his pictures have ten layers, planes that the viewer first has to explore. And yet sometimes a piece of unprocessed canvas can still be seen. The unfinished excites the artist.

Nils Adam is self-taught. As a child he liked to paint, but then creativity faded into the background for a long time. He married, became a father and went about his business. And at some point he just started painting. “The interplay of colors really appeals to me,” says Adam. His first pictures also explore colourfulness and gradients. "That fascinated me, so I stuck with it."

Always on the lookout for something new, a technique or an unusual material, Adam often draws his inspiration from looking at the works of other artists. If he finds something that interests him, he tries it himself - and then develops the technique further in his own style. He also uses unusual aids for this: instead of brushes, he works with trowels and squeegees or sometimes pulls a wooden slat through the damp paint. Interesting effects and structures are created.

Adam has set up a 50 square meter studio in his house in Gifhorn - ideal for his partly large-format works. He also makes objects out of synthetic resin. His objects are also characterized by complexity: things that he casts in synthetic resin are often processed and changed in lengthy processes.

The representational does not suit Adam. His works are abstract, mostly expressionistic. “When you work like this, you have to know when to stop,” explains the artist. “It has to feel right to me.” Of course, chance also plays a role. He has even consciously used the forces of nature: he exposed a picture processed with iron powder to rain and sun and explored the resulting effects.

Like many other artists, the Corona year 2020 put a spanner in the works for him. Ultimately, only the clinic staff could enjoy a large exhibition in the Helios Clinic Gifhorn. The exhibition is to be repeated this year with different pictures. At the moment Adam is just putting out his feelers for exhibition opportunities in 2022.

Like many others, Nils Adam also used the opportunities for artists and musicians who opened up on the Internet. After a short time he presented himself and his work as part of the Kulturretter initiative (www.unteruns-portal.de/kulturretter/) and became more involved on Instagram, which resulted in an exciting collaboration with fellow artist Alexander Besch. The two painters are currently working on a joint picture, Adam designs the backgrounds, Besch uses his figurative motifs. "It is a challenge to design the layers of paint in such a way that Besch can continue to work on them," admits Adam. An exciting project that might not have come about without Corona!

www.nilsadam.de

Text by Martina Zingler

Info box:

"Kulturretter" initiative

With the “Kulturretter” campaign, the Aller-Zeitung and Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung give artists affected by Corona restrictions a virtual stage. The Sparkasse Celle-Gifhorn-Wolfsburg is supporting the project with 5,000 euros. Cultural workers can introduce themselves on the “unteruns-portal.de” page. Every week the audience chooses a “cultural savior of the week”, who then receives a prize of 500 euros.