This year from September 17 till October 11 Artishok Biennale (AB) titled “A+B=AB14” was held at the Mūkusala Art Salon, Riga. This is the first time for AB that it took place outside of Estonia. AB is an exhibition format combining ten artists with works created for AB and ten critics writing about each of the works on display. Critics’ accomplishments will be presented in the exhibition alongside the newly made artworks. The aim of AB is to actualize the synergy between critical and creative thinking. Artforum magazine contributing editor, artist and gallerist John Kelsey writes that nowadays the critic has chosen to become a hack or a cook and criticism as such remains tied to outmoded social relations. As the way out of closed circle Kelsey suggests finding a new critical distance, or learning to deal with the loss of distance. Once the critic has renegotiated distance, it is nevertheless very probable that she will return, even though she might not be recognizable as such. (John Kelsey Rich Texts: Selected Writing for Art. 2012). Accepting the problems surrounding the so called old criticism and taking into consideration Kelsey’s ideas, AB tries to follow the same idea of renegotiated distance. By placing the critics into the same space with the artists, curators make an attempt to break the traditional space-time gap between art and criticism. Participating artists from Estonia are: Kristi Kongi, Laura Kuusk, Jass Kaselaan, Martiini, Margus Tamm. From Latvia: Kristīne Alksne, Jana Briķe, Krisš Salmanis, Arturs Bērziņš, Ivars Grāvlejs. Participating art critics from Estonia are Tanel Rander, andreas w, Peeter Talvistu, Mari Kartau, Elena Šmakova. From Latvia: Maija Rudovska, Jānis Taurens, Valts Miķelsons, Pauls Bankovskis, Anna Salmane. AB14 is curated by Šelda Puķīte (LV) and Indrek Grigor (EST). Design by Kristians Brekte. AB program opened on September 17, 2014 when the first from the altogether ten art pieces was presented. Each artwork was accompanied by ten texts written by the critics about the particular piece. Every opening evening was closed with a Critic Talk involving participants of AB14. The program went on – following the same formula – for ten days until all the works have been added to the exhibition and hundred critical texts presented, thus the exhibition can be considered ready. As such the show stayed on display for two more weeks from September 27 till October 11, 2014. The fourth AB is taking place at the Mūkusala Art Salon, a private, non-commercial gallery which also owns a remarkable collection of mostly Latvian art from different periods. Curators have chosen ten works from the collection to be displayed within the exhibition alongside the newly created works. Those ten works were allocated as comments on the practice of the ten participating critics, who were then each asked to write an extra article about their work. AB as a format was born in Estonia and the first three events took place in Tallinn and Tartu, involving only Estonian artists and critics, with occasional foreign guests among the critics. Now, in 2014, AB has become a collaboration project between Estonia and Latvia involving participants from both countries.
Day 1: Peter Talvistu (EST) = Kristaps Ģelzis. Left Coast. 2007
Day 2: Anna Salmane (LV) = Reinis Hofmanis. Sale. 2010
Day 3: Mari Kartau (EST) = Otto Zitmanis. Thus Love the Latvians. 2011
Day 4: Jānis Taurens (LV) = Reinholds Kasparsons. The Young Chess Player. 1936
Day 5: Elena Šmakova (EST) = Harijs Brants. Candy Eater. 2012
Day 6: Maija Rudovska (LV) = Ēriks Apaļais. Words Words. 2011
Day 7: andreas w (EST) = Visvaldis Ziediņš. Shoe with Beeswax Cells. Undated
Day 8: Pauls Bankovskis (LV) = Kārlis Vītols. The Rape of Eurobabe. 2010
Day 9: Tanel Rander (EST) = Kārlis Hūns. Landscape with the Young Fisherman. 1876
Day 10: Valts Miķelsons (LV) = Valdis Krēsliņš.Sign of the Times. 2010
Photographs by Didzis Grodzs