Zuzeum Greenhouse
27.04. – 11.06.2023.
Zuzeum Art Centre offers another opportunity to observe, evaluate and discuss contemporary art in the public space. While waiting for the creation of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, we invite every guest, friend, passer-by to look into our glass greenhouse and get an impression of the contemporary art processes.
The work is untitled as it is open to interpretation. The art of Jānis Avotiņš often surprises with a distinct intimacy, it takes you to an undefined dimension of time and space, which only a specific work of art has – an original approach in the contemporary art scene, which often talks about the current.
Jānis Avotiņš draws inspiration from the visual cultural and historical heritage and expresses himself most oftenly through painting, rarely through graphics or three-dimensional works. The artwork ‘Untitled’ has been specially created and is part of the artist’s solo exhibition entitled ‘Celebration’ (Šventė, 13.02.2018.- 23.03.2018.) at the Vilnius Contemporary Art Gallery VARTAI. The exhibition coincided with the centennial of the Baltic states and the concept of community was chosen as the main thematic framework.
Owner of the ‘Vitols Contemporary’, a collector of Central and Eastern European contemporary art, Māris Vītols on Jānis Avotiņš’ piece ‘Untitled’:
“How can the artist work with the past, using its artefacts as a raw material, to create an archaeological interpretation that can be used to implement new forms of reflection? What kind of expression, stories, representation, means of articulation are best suited for this?
Jānis Avotiņš (1981) is one of the Latvian artists who draws motifs for his works from the visual heritage of the recent past – photographs found in public and private archives, retouched Soviet-era press images and city guides. In Jānis Avotiņš’s works, the figures drawn from the past often turn into images of blurred memories, whose outlines and significance have become obscure, and they retain only a few semiotic references that might help the viewer to associate them with a particular context of time and space. The sculptural works of the artist on display at the Zuzeum are a consistent continuation of the established signature of Jānis Avotiņš. The sculptures, carefully arranged at different heights in a large, illuminated showcase, refer to the symbols of the propaganda system often used during the Soviet era, where, alongside the ardent Young Pioneers, zealous Komsomol girls and courageous soldiers, the pages of magazines of the time beautifully and happily glowed with industrial, agricultural, construction, scientific, cultural and educational figures, strengthening the citizens’ faith in Marxism-Leninism. The grotesquely designed and in gold glittering sculptures by Jānis Avotiņš not only expose the propaganda efforts of the Soviet era to subjugate society to the ideological aims of the structures of power, but also serve as a grim reminder of the massive propaganda weapons that are being used in the media today by an imperialistic aspiring Russia to rationalise and justify its criminally instigated war in Ukraine.”
Exhibition is housed in the orange Greenhouse, in the Sculpture Garden. Open to viewers every day during the working hours of art centre.
Artwork used in the exhibition visual: Jānis Avotiņš (1981), Untitled. 2018