MARK ROTHKO 2020
16th International Painting Symposium Exhibition
Every year in September, to celebrate the birthday of the world-renowned artist Mark Rothko, Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre organises an international painting symposium as a tribute to the distinguished native of Daugavpils, enabling artists from different countries to draw inspiration from Rothko’s work and beliefs about art whilst staying in the special environment of his childhood city. This year, seven artists from Latvia, Lithuania and Finland were invited to contribute to the symposium with their creative dialogue and painterly work in the art centre’s studios.
In 2020, the international painting symposium in commemoration of Mark Rothko was held in Daugavpils for the sixteenth time, confirming the sustainability of this creative forum and reasserting its contribution to steering meaningful artistic processes in the fortress, the city of Daugavpils and its surroundings.
The chance to escape from the hectic rhythm of everyday life and explore a new place with its distinct identity and aura, its people, unique architecture and enchanting historical atmosphere, enabled the artists to focus exclusively on painting. Thus, the participants put their impressions of the things they saw, felt and experienced during this fortnight into their paintings through their individual and characteristic painterly styles, sharing with the viewers what they find most relevant and important in the present day.
A place and a sense of place inspired each artist to experiment and, to a degree, turn away from “the norm” – use other materials, methods or techniques and explore their preferred topics from a fresh and different perspective.
The 16th International Painting Symposium “Mark Rothko 2020” brought together Vija Zariņa (Latvia), Kaspars Zariņš (Latvia), Nataļja Marinoha (Latvia), Uldis Čamans (Latvia), Romualdas Balinskas (Lithuania), Tomas Rudokas (Lithuania) and Rose-Mari Torpo (Finland).
Tatjana Černova
