Archive

CILICIA BREEZE

The geography/culture encompassing the meanings, values, identities and subjectivity signifies the place where the “self” is re-discovered, experienced and re-produced. The artists who are after creating their own myths are nourished by the light, colours, textures/patterns, history and culture of the geography they are surrounded by, no matter how much they are influenced by the surprising aesthetics of artists around the world. Artwork in this exhibition points to the need to build a shared reality through individual voices of the artists. Each piece of art reflects the artist’s sensitivity. As a whole, the exhibited work represents a reality far beyond the culture of the artist as experienced.

Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke “CHROMATIC MATTERS”

While Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke’s art is all about painting, she has never been afraid – indeed rather eager in fact - to challenge her own medium of choice. The original dialogue she subtly introduces between the support, the canvas, and the actual “painted presence” (rather than a static given image) that is presented to the viewer, is both instantly seductive and intriguing for a good reason. The artist paints as a dancer dances, taking into her stride all the visible and invisible particulars, re-configurating the open space that she subtly demands for her art, by the way of determined moves and unexpected dynamics. With Maibritt, canvas surface, frame borders, paint strokes, drips, are deftly submitted to an unwritten law: that of the specific artwork in the make, in which they all are to play an equivalent active role, and more and more in volume, though without eclipsing the core of their identity: paintings.

LOCATION/ DISLOCATION. BETWEEN REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING

The exhibition looks at time and space as well as memory and the principles of organising space as a field of investigation. Here, space, relates not only to geographic size, but also includes psychological, cultural and social contexts. Finding themselves in perpetual motion, people form their relationships and determine their trajectory of movement with close attention to the spatial conditions. Whereas the perception of space in fact varies according to the place from which it is viewed; experience, social and cultural context, perspective and countless other factors.

BORIS LURIE “ARTIST AND WITNESS”

Boris Lurie (Jul 18, 1924 – Jan 7, 2008), an American artist and writer, born in Leningrad into a Jewish family and grew up in Riga. From 1941 to 1945, he was imprisoned in German concentration camps. His mother, grandmother and sister were killed by the Nazis in Rumbula.

I like

Maija Bērziņa I like to live, painting the things I love, the things that fill my heart with joy and animate me, stirring my soul… I like the nature of Latvia, our rivers and blue lakes, the rolling sea, the golden beaches, the lithe figures of girls and boys astride galloping horses. Nourishment for the soul, beauty and joy, the deep-rooted power of the human spirit and the eternal cycles of nature, forever mine. I like the sharp gusts of wind, the moving, temperamental smears of colour and their swirling force… I like versatility – the bright and cheerful person, radiating light and overflowing with happiness, running barefoot towards me. The flow of life, subliminal nature, dappling sunlight that jumps and dances like a foal, the uplifting surge of a galloping horse, the creative, artistic process – that is what I like.

The Funen Printmaking Workshop – artist studio in Denmark

The exhibition programme of Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre continues to showcase local and international graphic art. Two major exhibitions of Latvian graphic art have been organised so far, and quite recently we were able to observe the stylistic variation of Estonian graphic artists. This time, we present graphic art created in Denmark. As seen from the title, the artwork comes from a printmakers’ studio located in Denmark. It has around 300 members, including Danish and international artists.

PEACE AND TENSION: Juried Group Exhibition by Artists from Latgale Region

Peace and tension – the two antitheses of the 21st century. These terms or elements of life accompany us all in our day-to-day routines. Each of us can perceive and make sense of these two phenomena in a different way. A worker's existential life is hinged on peace, which allows an individual as well as their family, relatives, friends or acquaintances to engage in human interaction. Based on peaceful, harmonised and, at the same time, dynamic development, it promotes their individual growth.

STEP BY STEP

Zsófia Karsai The wall could be the wall of consciousness – a symbol of safety and protection. Or perhaps it is safeguarding from the harmful effects of the outside world. It might also be a barrier between different emotions or perhaps a prison, a banister or an obstacle. We have all been walls and we have also stood on both sides as well. It is up to us where we choose to be.

KINGDOM

MÁRTA RADICS The exhibition displays attributes of an imaginary kingdom. The blurred fortresses, crowns and gates show the clouds and waves of water that are riding over the kingdom… The ruins of this ancient world have a profound effect on me, and they send humankind back through ages with their dignified balance. The ruins of the past surround our everyday life and radiate perfection in their own inadequacy. The elements in this space have such an effect on us that they help us remember, either consciously or subconsciously. Remembrance often appears in the form of a mood and feeling. The weather-stricken elements of rocks, castles and columns can start a story that can create a relationship between soul and substance.

EXHIBITION OF VIII INTERNATIONAL LATGALE GRAPHIC SYMPOSIUM

The eighth iteration of the International Latgale Graphic Art Symposium in Daugavpils has brought together eight participants who, in their own individual ways, all continue the rich traditions of past generation of graphic artists. Now the outcomes of two packed weeks of creative work are presented to the public. The graphic art symposium has proved its sustainability and relevance in the global community of graphic art. It can certainly be called a successful and valuable graphic art tradition in Latgale region. The symposium has provided a fertile ground for discussion and creative work in the cultural space of Latgale region by bringing together Latvian and international artists who have similarities and differences in the way they conceptualise and approach graphic art. These conditions have enabled a unique form of dialogue which does not require verbal speech, but rests on transfer and comparison of technical nuances and individual growth.