2/22/05 Workers are laying the logs for Nils Udo's natural sculpture.  Photo by Diane Palmer   More photos

DATE: 1/12/05

CONTACT: Ernie Denny, (864) 650-8841

WRITER: Diane Palmer, (864) 656-4741

Bavarian artist will create natural sculpture at Clemson

CLEMSON – Bavarian artist Nils Udo has been working with nature since 1972, either painting it or creating site-specific sculptures using what nature provides.

Udo will be in Clemson for the month of February at the S.C. Botanical Gardens to create another of his natural sculptures.

His artwork has appeared in Europe as well as Japan , India and North America .

Udo said, “A basic idea is to achieve absolute purity. Every non-natural element is ruled out as impure. No other materials are used than those found in each natural space.”

He will present a slide presentation on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. in Lee Auditorium on the Clemson University campus.

“Nils Udo: Art in Nature”, a book of Udo’s collection of photographs of his nature based art, is for sale at bookstores.

“Nils-Udo was one of the first contemporary nature-based artists to emerge during the late-sixties and early-seventies,” said Ernie Denny, program facilitator for the S.C. Botanical Garden . “He has consistently produced site-specific, nature-based sculptures since that time and has accumulated an enormously impressive body of work. He is also well respected as an author. The Garden staff is elated that he has chosen to contribute to the Garden’s Nature-based Sculpture Program.”

The garden is located on the Clemson University campus at the intersection of Highway 76 and Silas Pearman Blvd. It encompasses 295 acres of gardens, streams and woodlands, and is open year-round from sunrise to sunset free of charge.

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