Andris Breže :
Barbara Gaile : Barbara Gaile is one of the more unorthodox representatives of Latvian contemporary art. The source and solution of her self-expression is in her thorough, complete and self-sufficient brand of minimalism.
THE ORGANIC WORKS OF BARBARA GAILE
It is common to break down contemporary art into various trends, to single out tendencies, establish conceptions and strategies, emphasise discourses, describe contexts, recognise conventionality and engage in other similar analytical procedures. This is normal for professional critics and art historians; it helps the audience of contemporary art to orient itself across the manifold space of the latest artistic culture. However, there are artists whose works are ill-suited for such analytic systematisation. One should also note that these are not outsiders but remarkable, talented artists. Of course, Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, Yves Klein and Agnes Martin can be categorised as abstract artists but this does not help us much to understand their works. In addition, this inclusive definition tends to set them apart from the current trends in contemporary art but their art continues to attract us and is perceived as the best in contemporary painting.
It seems to me that the works of Barbara Gaile coincide with various conceptual strategies in contemporary art (such as field painting or salient painting) but first of all they relate to some exceptionally profound and strong artists. Besides those mentioned above, I could add other wonderful and radically different artists: Louise Bourgeois, Kaze Zimblyte, Rachel Whiteread, Mona Hatoum… Each of them features a distinctive evocative quality that is also typical of Barbara Gaile’s works. She, like the other artists mentioned, pays particular attention to the technological side of making an artwork, turning the process of creativity into an ecstatic procedure and expecting the appropriate perception from the viewer.
Barbara avoids a painterly approach, favouring texture instead; while emphasising the origin of colour in light and retaining the self-sufficient value of pigment, she preserves its “sound” but not its materiality. The materiality of Barbara’s works is recreated; it is different - like the materiality of a living organism… At the same time, the question of materiality recedes into the background; much more important is the life of that which Barbara has created and which would be difficult to call a painting in the traditional sense. It is life and interaction with us as spectators. The suggestive character of the works is so strong that they put us in a state of sustained contemplation and meditation. Barbara’s works appear to stand openly before the viewer yet at the same time they are closed in their autonomous existence. There is no open expression or narrative. It seems that we are contemplating some kind of living organisms, bodies with healed scars and opalescent skin… It is no longer either salient painting or still life but salient life – life created by the artist.
I get the impression that Barbara Gaile has now reached a certain peak in her artistic development, so convincingly does she cultivate her mastery, so stable is the technological side of her painting and her organic creative position. The originality of Gaile’s creativity expands the space of Latvian contemporary art; it gives the most recent art in the world added value and undoubtedly has its audience.
Leonid Bazhanov
Art critic, artistic director of the Russian National Centre for Contemporary Art
Daiga Krūze :
Ernests Kļaviņš : Through the simple / playful use of colour, drawing and animation, the intelligent provocateur has conjured up fables that make us smile and think... The titles of the works are important for decoding the connections – they serve as rejoinders.
Ivars Drulle :
Jānis Blanks :
Jānis Blanks is one of the most unpredictable and mystical artists of his generation, who dwells in his own space, untouched by external circumstances and events. The artist paints deeply and solemnly, unhurriedly relishing the time devoted to the process of painting.
The sources of Jānis Blanks’ inspiration are all around us – in nature, in human beings, in incidental intriguing events and dreams, which are converted into surrealist works of art through the force of the artist`s imagination.
Kalvis Zuters : Kalvis Zuters endows his painted images with his life experience – an unusual and peculiar, carefully guarded private world with a certain dose of solitude. He is an artist capable of defending his creative space against the irritants of the saturated outside world for the "full-bloodied construction" of the life of his characters, materialised in metaphysical images.
Kristiana Dimitere : "Kristiana`s art is live theatre, captured in mid-motion. The vivid colours conceal within themselves an omen of fate, which is also always present in the eyes of the characters and sometimes even outside of the picture."
This description by the artist`s mother, legendary Latvian actress Vija Artmane, helps understand the complicated world of Kristiana Dimitere`s art. She`s equally comfortable sculpting, painting, drawing, illustrating, and creating stage sets and animations.
The trump card of Kristiana Dimitere`s art is the plasticity of her shapes and the recognisable lines which tame the artist`s vibrant, fantastic characters so akin to the aesthetics of naïve art.
Kristians Brekte : Kristians Brekte is socially engaged artist who has participated in projects of various scale and already earned the reputation of a somewhat controversial creative figure.
Brave depicting of differently perceived world which is plentiful of fantasy, is a base for the artist's various activities which have been infuriated numerous fellow citizens. The fact that he pretty often brakes the bounds between sacred and forbidden themes, partly derives from his experience of eager graffiti artist.
The range of his artistic outlets is seemingly endless, from monumental ironic figurative compositions charged with powerful energy and seamlessly combining vast and free painting style, emphasized brutal brush strokes and local colour with brilliantly executed realistic representation in the stencil technique, to experiments in the area of organic sculpture. The dominating feel of the works is clear and easily recognizable: they deal with the line between the human and the animal realms, with death, the mythical element and sexuality.
http://kristiansbrekte.lv
Krišs Salmanis : Reserved, melancholic, intellectually justified and visually filigree - this briefly describes the artist Krišs Salmanis, who is no doubt one of the brightest representatives of contemporary art in Latvia.
http://www.salmanis.com/
Verners Lazdāns : "I'm interested in the incomprehensible in nature – in savagery that contains much undiscovered pre-programmed genuineness.
When creating an artwork, I strive to achieve that the painted character becomes a symbol for an emotional state or trait. Perhaps in this image you will find something I haven’t noticed by myself because of my partly intuitive manner of painting, which is not previously thought out in details.
I avoid explanatory ambience – landscapes and interior because I wish to focus on the image itself. I don’t consider the place where the character stands is so important neither the reality which overwhelms the image, but relevant is the fact of its essence.
The form of my human animals is often inspired by nature - by some animal, piece of rock, part of a bone, piece of wood and ore or even by a natural phenomenon."
Verners Lazdāns
Zenta Logina : "The identification signs of Zenta Logina are cosmic themes and usage of abstract shapes. Although both of them seem to be incompatible – there is no need to search for depiction and definite thematic in abstraction – the artist had been obviously interested in both during a long period of time – from the 60ties till the end of her life in 1983.
Besides the interest there was also a hard work that helped Zenta Logina to find her own original way of melting pure arts– enchantment of colors and shapes – togeather with images taken from cosmos research and supplementing it with great share of universalized symbolism
Not only innovative values of composition and extravagant stories but also a quality that is traditionally typical to Latvian art – refined sence of color, a skill of making them attached by special lucidity and ‘sonority’ - are features that make Logina’s artworks able to enchant.
Creating works in similar colouring or more rarely - in contrasting compositions of paint artist has often used glaze, loosening of surface, patina and subpainting techniques and such materials as varnish and bronze and aluminium powders.
Uncommonly consistant focusing on abstraction and choice of themes have raised lack of understanding each during different particular periods and have made mistrustful attitude of authorities of government and art field against works performed by artist. This has inconvenienced her work a lot and restricted posibilities to reach the audience.
Zenta Logina was excluded from The Artists' Union of Soviet Latvia in 1950 because of formalism. Her dedication to abstraction was considered as being too radical in Soviet art."
Vilnis Vējš
Renesanse, Renaissance
Psihedēlija Klusajā centrā. 25.02. - 12.04.2006., Psychedelia in the Quiet Centre. 25.02. - 12.04.2006.
Atmiņas par Itāliju. 05.06. - 20.08.2007., Memories of Italy. 05.06. - 20.08.2007.
Kristaps Ģelzis. Home Video. 10.12.2008. - 30.01.2009., Kristaps Ģelzis. Home Video. 10.12.2008. - 30.01.2009.
Kristīne Kursiša. Ārpus kontroles. 26.09 - 22.10. 2009., Kristīne Kursiša. Out Of Control. 26.09 - 22.10. 2009.
Mūsu laika ikonas. 27.10. - 14.12.2009., Contemporary Icons. 27.10. - 14.12.2009.
ARCOmadrid 2010. Gints Gabrans. 17 - 21.02. 2010., ARCOmadrid 2010. Gints Gabrans. 17 - 21.02.2010.
Jānis Blanks. Personālizstāde. 27.03. - 30.04.2010., Jānis Blanks. Solo show. 27.03. - 30.04.2010.
Kristians Brekte. Rīgas madonnas. 25.10. - 17.12.2010., Kristians Brekte. The Madonnas of Riga. 25.10. – 17.12. 2010.
Otto Zitmanis. Otto dusmas. 14.01. - 01.03.2011., Otto Zitmanis. Otto`s Anger. 14.01. - 01.03.2011.
Gints Gabrans. Asinsgaisma. 8.03. - 22.04.2011., Gints Gabrans. Bloodlight. 8.03. - 22.04.2011.
Ivars Drulle. Balstīts uz patiesiem notikumiem. 27.04 - 10.06.2011., Ivars Drulle. Based on True Stories. 27.04. - 10.06.2011.
Zenta Logina. Constellation. 11.07. - 02.09.2011, Zenta Logina. Constellation. 11.07. - 02.09.2011
Ernests Kļaviņš. Karš starp titāniem un rūķīšiem. 28.11. - 02.12.2011 , Ernests Kļaviņš. War Between the Titans and Gnomes
Kristiana Dimitere. Sekulārā rezonanse. 12.12.2011. - 10. 02.2012. , Kristiana Dimitere. Secular Resonance . 12.12.2011. - 10. 02.2012.
Verners Lazdāns. Nativus. 15.02. - 23.03. 2012., Verners Lazdāns. Nativus. 15.02. - 23.03. 2012.
Kristians Brekte. Absolūtais ļaunums. 2.04. - 17.05.2012. , Kristians Brekte. Absolute evil. 2.04. - 17.05.2012.
Krišs Salmanis. Uzticēšanās trauslums. 28.05. - 27.07.2012., Krišs Salmanis. The fragility of trust. 28.05. - 27.07.2012.
ViennaFair 2012, ViennaFair 2012
Andris Breže. Miera Dzīve . 5.10.2012 - 09.01.2013, Andris Breže. A Life of Peace.5.10.2012 - 09.01.2013
Daiga Krūze. Slēpnis. 11. 02. - 02. 04. 2013., Daiga Kruze. Hideout. 11. 02. - 02. 04. 2013.
Kristians Brekte. 15.04. - 17.05.2013., Kristians Brekte. 15.04. - 17.05.2013.
Currated by Ieva Kulakova
The artistic activities of Kristians Brekte, based on his fantasy-packed strictly non-ordinary world perception and a very bold approach to depicting it, have been known to offend more than one of his contemporaries. Defiantly, he breaks down the line between the sacred and the forbidden subjects – a fact partly resulting from his experience as a graffiti artist.
The new show is an attempt by Kristians Brekte and the curator Ieva Kulakova to trace the stories of seven women working on the streets. To explore the everyday life of these girls, both of them were involved in a process worthy of a detective story for over a half-year. In a way, the exhibition has evolved into a documentary study of the life-stories of these women and our occasionally erroneous stereotypes of them.
The exhibition is centred on the idea of taking a look at our contemporaries through a lens of idealism, an approach originally employed by Christian theology and explored by art history.
The main source of inspiration here is the story of Mary Magdalene – the message of transforming one’s life through experiencing genuine love of God. On the other hand, it is a well established historical fact that, as often as not, the real people sitting for portraits of saints were the artist’s contemporaries from various walks of life.
In this case, the women sitting for the ‘Madonnas of Riga’ were sex workers from Riga and the vicinity.
What attracted the authors of the exhibition was more than just the sense of the sitters balancing on the edge of an abyss, as it were.
The seven eventually chosen sitters are revealed on three different levels.
Firstly, the artist’s interpretation of the character in the form of a large-scale watercolour.
Secondly, the story written down by the curator – an account of each subject and the circumstances of the first encounter. Each story ends with the sitters’ answers to a number of very simple questions, revealing their personalities through mundane details.
And finally, each of the ‘Madonnas’ is also a co-creator of the show, contributing pictures taken with a Kodak disposable camera.
Most of the characters did not mind revealing their real name; however, one of the questions asked to all of the girls was – what name would they choose for themselves; that’s why their ‘exhibition names’ are different from the real ones.
An insight into the new exhibition:
Samanta
We run into Samanta in Lienes Street. She is licking an ice lolly lazily. She is wearing a pale pink top and a very short skirt. Wind is ruffling the long blond hair. Veins are clearly visible on her arms and legs, revealed for anyone to see. She is model-thin; however, the location and the ice-lolly she is licking betray her true profession.
Kristians has repeatedly gone looking for Samanta at the location where we met her. All in vain. Haven’t had any luck trying to reach her on the phone, either: the line has been temporarily closed. We cannot give her a camera so that she could become a co-author of the art show. We can only hope she has somehow managed to get out of the whole thing and is going to be fine. We would like to believe that we became one of the tiny atoms of her life which enforced her determination to move to a different level.
As we carried on our search for Samanta, we left the car and walked to the place were the girls were working; soon we realised that there was no way we could respect their rules in this manner. We gave up the plan to communicate with them while carrying a camera and our backpacks.
Victoria
As we finish our conversation with Victoria, she asks if we would like to visit her place in Ķengarags and meet another ‘Madonna’ who is her friend and flatmate. We accept readily and get into the car. She has another request: could we take her to the nearby edge of the forest which is where she keeps her normal shoes hidden behind an electricity cupboard – she cannot really walk in these high heels she wears for work. As soon as Victoria changes her shoes, she literally becomes a new woman, dressed in jeans and a light windcheater. In the car she tells us horrifying stories from her professional life.
Christine
Christine arrives dressed in a red jacket; her hair is also dyed bright red. She is almost twenty-one. She has two children, a girl and a boy.
After a bit of wheedling, we find our next ‘Madonna’ in Rumbula, on the outskirts of Riga. She cannot decide on her new name at first; finally, she settles on Victoria. She is 32.
Kitty
We find ourselves in Pļavas Street. This time around, it is not really we who pick the girl. She picks us: simply comes up to the car and starts to chat. Our first reaction is to cut the conversation short but then she tells Kristians that she recognises him; she knows he is an artist. She has seen him on the telly and she likes what he is doing, although she says it is basically making mischief. Kitty is 32.
Vic
We find Vic standing in Jāņa Asara Street. We pass her several times before deciding to initiate a conversation. She accepts. Vic’s appearance is really colourful. She is wearing a short denim skirt, black blazer and high black high-heel boots. Her shoulder length hair is dyed red and held back with a silver hair band.
Alexandra (I)
We meet Alexandra on the corner of Lienes and Mūrnieku Street. It is actually not as if she was conspicuously dressed: she is wearing light blue jean shorts and a black jacket. Her appearance, however, is dominated by her shoes: white high-heel ones, tied to the thin legs with straps up to the very knee. She would not even talk to us – at least she is at first quite dismissive towards the pair of us, the artist and the curator.
Aleksandra (II)
We meet Alexandra on the road in the vicinity of Rumbula. We open with a rhetorical question: Does she feel that she’s doing a beneficial job? Why, yes, she says. She is, after all, helping men get rid of stress! She believes that the name ‘Alexandra’ carries the double power of a double name; that’s why she picks it as her own. A slight bewilderment on my and Kristians’ part. So we’ve got ourselves another ‘Madonna’ named Alexandra.
The authors of the exhibition admit that emotionally this must be the hardest art show they have ever put together. Not all of the stories have a happy ending. And none of them is anything like a fairytale that could end on ‘and they lived happily ever after’. And yet, if things like that can happen in real life, they can also be spoken about. Finally – in Kristians Brekte’s works the girls’ lives will acquire a completely different dimension.
