From 6 July to 26 August Laura Prikule and Eva Vēvere's exhibition Chairoscuro will be on show in the Upper Gallery of the Mūkusala Art Salon. The exhibition-installation is a space of experience which asks questions about the mechanisms of value-creation. What is the difference between a warehouse and a collection? Does art exist if it is not seen? When does an object of art turn into a forgotten item of a warehouse inventory?
“The exhibition deals with various accumulations, reviewing both personal experience and sediments of art history. Through activation of material from a specific warehouse in an industrial area, the practice of collecting becomes the object of interest. Methods of taxonomy prevail in the creation of new content. Systemic classification makes reaching the necessary result possible. Everyday objects acquire symbolic meaning, objects of art – a down-to-earth content. That is the point when the viewer reaches chairoscuro.” (L.P., E.V.)
The spatial installation brings together objects from an actual warehouse of an art collector, the video represents reflection on painting as the 'high' medium of visual art, while works of art and warehouse items from the Zuzāns' Collection find themselves on associative cards. The title of the exhibition represents the double meaning of the Latvian word "krēslā" – the power position of the one sitting on a throne and the endless labyrinths of obscurity, inviting the visitors of the exhibition to imagine themselves in both roles.
Laura Prikule (1977) completed bachelor's studies at the Art Academy of Latvia (AAL) after which she earned a master's degree at the San Francisco Art Institute, while Eva Vēvere (1981) earned a master's degree in painting at the AAL. The artists work as a creative duet since 2009, creating projects, exhibitions, actions and performances of Poetic Robotism.
Līga Lindenbauma, curator of the exhibition
Publicity image: Laura Prikule, Eva Vēvere. Chairoscuro
