"Mysterious logos, marble slabs, and digital worlds – Niko Abramidis &NE’s artistic work refers to themes such as power structures, future utopias, and contemporary urban development. Starting from sketches made in a notebook, he creates parallel universes including spatial installations reminiscent of office spaces that play with traditional symbolism of power, a fictious corporate identity, and the appearance of major cities. His drawings, objects, and digital prints reveal humor and diverse references, for example to science fiction, philosophy, and economic processes.
Niko, how did you get into art?
I have always drawn, during classes, in the subway, on walls, on trains, in notebooks, and in books. Drawing is the constant in my life that has always evolved. It is a main part of my work to take the sketchbook and pencil and to make note of things or to draw them.
And how did you realize that you wanted to make art your profession?
My mother was a seamstress and always took me to workshops as a child. It fascinated me how the machines were operated so skillfully, and new things were created. There was the rhythmic rattling of the running machines and there were huge rolls of fabric. The atmosphere in the production facilities still fascinates me today. I then first studied architecture and tried to subvert the strict specifications for gray cardboard models to be delivered weekly with colorful designs, which didn’t go over so well. Then I happened to walk into the art academy and saw people at work and no one telling them what had to be done and how. The freedom was like a turbo drive for me, and I still appreciate being able to realize my own plans, interfaces, and projects."
– Excerpt from interview by Kevin Hanschke for Collectors Agenda with Niko Abramidis &NE
