TEMPLE
Ritums Ivanovs (Latvia)
After several years of creative research and collaboration with the Rothko Museum, Ritums Ivanovs transforms the former military arsenal into a Temple with four chapels. The series of paintings, divided and arranged according to the structure of the arsenal building, continue the artist’s deep interest in analysing the language of portrait painting.
The exhibition provides an insight into the pages of art history through the artistry of Ritums Ivanovs and the intellectual legacy of Mark Rothko. The monumental portraits become an object reference where we discover the real, the true, and the present artists – Rothko, Rembrandt and also Ritums.
In the creations of Ivanovs, the portrait refers to a direction rather than a destination, indicating the multi-layered and elusive nature of self-reflection. A portrait is only a means towards the goal – a mirror in which one can see what is beyond words and explanations.
Each of the chapels reveals questions of importance for the artist. Each is a space for meditation, where the relationship between the painter and the painted can be analysed through the observation of light and colour. The axis of the exhibition is the interaction between the three artists. A space for reflection on how feelings, thoughts and perspectives on the diversity of self-reflective perceptions are changing.
The Rembrandt Chapel explores the legacy of the self-portrait genre created by the great Dutch painter during his lifetime. How can one re-image these already established images, creating a new feeling of presence and discovering new meanings? As the most scrutinising mirror, the Ritums Chapel puts the artist himself on display with particular self-criticism and asks: How does the viewer see the artist and how does the artist see himself? The Rothko Chapel is a tribute to the artist at a time when books, exhibitions and theatre performances speak of his contribution. And yet – how well do we know Rothko? How much can we get to know the real Rothko? The monumental paintings erase the subject-object relationship, and only experience remains. The experience in the Temple.
The Temple is a place for self-reflection, consciousness and a direct experience of art because “a painting is not a picture of an experience; it is an experience” (Mark Rothko). The exhibition – a destination for art pilgrims – was also created step-by-step, with almost sacred reverence and introspection. Having explored the book “Artist’s Reality” with Mark Rothko’s notes that were not published during his lifetime, Ivanovs, in his paintings, attempts to reveal both the tensions all artists face and a part of his own reality as an artist – the techniques, inspirations and persistent dedication with which this Temple was created.
Ritums Ivanovs (born in 1968, in Cēsis) is one of Latvia’s best-known and most important artists, who has managed to gain international recognition. A graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia with a Master of Arts degree, he works with a self-created brushstroke technique that combines the traditions of Pop Art and Photorealism. Ivanovs has held more than 30 solo exhibitions in Latvia and abroad and regularly participates in international art fairs. His artworks can be found in numerous public and private collections in Latvia and beyond. Ivanovs has painted official portraits of three Latvian presidents, and in 2009, he became the first artist in Latvian history to have a painting (“Frame05”) sold at the prestigious Sotheby’s auction in London.
Curator of the exhibition: Aivars Baranovskis
Exhibition duration: 07.03.2025–18.05.2025
Publicity image: Ritums Ivanovs. “Temple. Rothko. Blue”. Acrylic on canvas. 200 x 340 cm. 2024/5. Photo by Jānis Deinats
