Visual Arts
Silva Linarte Symposium: creative process, photo: Santa Suhanova.
Silva Linarte Symposium: creative process, photo: Santa Suhanova.

On Friday, 3 September, Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre opens three new exhibition projects. Between 4 and 7 p.m., visitors can see them in the company of artists and creators.

Three profoundly different art projects create a new, autumnal atmosphere in the Rothko Centre’s exhibition rooms. Not the gloom and doom associated with the inevitable onset of winter, but an expectant anticipation of the golden days ahead, an evocative ambience that transforms visual imagery into an almost poetic experience and calls us to review the moments of significance that might have slipped our attention in the hectic days of summer. These moments set off trains of emotion and trigger a calm aesthetic appreciation that may become food for thought and conversation on a still autumnal evening.

Danish artists Vibeke Glarbo and Hjördis Haack have prepared a joint exhibition “Behind the Longing”. Their sculptures, paintings, drawings, installations and graphic prints give us an experience and interpretation of the world around us, which is much more physical and intense than the images we see on television and in electronic media. Through their artworks, they open our eyes to the intricacy and beauty of the natural world. This could be described as a concept of beauty based on working in and with nature as well as a dream that the human and natural worlds could be interwoven.

“Tea Time” celebrates the art of Skaidrīte Cihovska, a distinguished Latvian ceramicist. The show is largely composed of everyday design objects with pride of place given to the artist’s teapots, laconic and reserved in their association between form and detail. Cihovska’s art is mainly about stability and precision. The artist is drawn to a rational language of form and enjoys blending function and decor. Never overly ornate, her ceramic objects and wares embody classical simplicity, but the artist’s lively imagination is let loose in the finer details. Cihovska represents the generation of artists who shaped the image of contemporary Latvian ceramics.

For two weeks, the Rothko Centre had become a temporary home for five Latvian and international artists. To commemorate the distinguished Latgale artist and long-term art educator Silva Veronika Linarte (1939–2018) and her creative legacy, painters Elga Grīnvalde (Latvia), Eimutis Markūnas (Lithuania), Petra Heitkötter (Germany), Anna Szprynger (Poland) and Zigurds Poļikovs (Latvia) came together in a painting symposium that bears her name. Work in a shared creative space and engagement through conversations and experience exchange in artist talks, lectures and workshops have culminated in an exhibition inspired by the unique atmosphere of Latgale and Daugavpils fortress.

The new exhibitions at Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre will remain on show until 17 October 2021.

Opening hours:
Monday: closed
Tuesday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday through Saturday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Supporters:
Daugavpils City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation, JSC Latvia’s State Forests, Latgale Region Development Agency and Caparol Ltd.

Currently on show:

  • “Found in the Collection” – finest pieces from Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre;
  • “Martinsons Award 2021” – international juried exhibition within the 3rd Latvia Ceramics Biennale featuring artists from 38 countries.

About the organiser:
https://www.rothkocenter.com/
3 Mihaila Street, Daugavpils

Author:
Aivars Baranovskis
aivars.baranovskis@daugavpils.lv
+371 65430273