Suspense. The rituals gone wrong.

Exhibition

Within the framework of: Meeting Europe – Latvia

Eriks BOZIS, Press! Press! Press!, 2003

Artists : Eriks Bozis / Gints Gabrans / Katrina Neiburga / Kaspars Podnieks /

Curator : Mara Traumane


This exhibition was first put together according to rather mathematical rules.

The set of four was one of the departure points that were marked out by the organisers of the show – Apollonia, European art exchanges.
Four is a difficult number – just because it is overused and has a feel of ambitiousness. There are four cornerstones, four cardinal points, four elements and seasons and four kinds of cards and so on.  And alike the directions at the usual crossroads the archetypical “four” is rather indicating the disunity and looseness – some basic elements that are far from being centred.  Therefore, partly paying respect to the distinct characters of the artists in this exhibition and the in-between space that is created by the tension among their works, the exhibition is titled « Suspense. The rituals gone wrong ».

Still the title is intended to carry further also the sub-theme for the “four” – the veiled obsession of this frequent number. There are hints of custom and obsession in every artist’s part in the exhibition. The tension of the show is built up by its guiding theme – unsteady balance of the daily routine on the fragile edge of emotional and mental overload. Keeping in mind that these Latvian artists are contemporaries sharing similar cultural backgrounds and life within neo-liberal conditions one could speculate about the origins of the rhythm, ritual and breakdown of routine marking their works. Poetics of  Eriks Bozis , Katrina Neiburga and Kaspars Podnieks draws close to the protestant ethics and glorification of labour and the sensual, psychological experiences of satisfaction and struggle deep under the system of the travail. The fourth artist – / Gints Gabrans latest oeuvre too circles around the seemingly familiar phenomenon of light, metaphysical subtexts and popular beliefs and superstitions generated by the light-waves and rules of physics.