Venice, April, 2013
kim? Contemporary Art Centre invites to the opening of the exhibition by Kaspars Podnieks and Kriss Salmanis North by Northeast. The Deconstruction of the Pavilion on March 27 at 7p.m. – 9p.m.
What is left here once the feast is over?
The introductory exhibition of the pavilion in New York in March, 2013 was like a prelude of a one-act opera. The exposition in Venice from June till July of the same year – the performance itself; a visitor of the exhibition even wrote – I was astonished and thought it was a real coup de théâtre. Returning from the guest performances, the pavilion exhibition in Riga has something to do with deconstruction – the decorations are being taken out and a new version of the constantly changeable – choreographed once again.
The exposition in Riga is formed taking into consideration the specifics of the space and photographs of Kaspars Podnieks’ series Rommelis’ Dairy (Rommeļa pienotava) will be displayed along with the supporting soundtrack as well as the installation by Kriss Salmanis – a motorized animation of the “moving tree” exposed in the Venice Biennale. The exhibition in Riga is conceived in collaboration with architect Austris Mailitis.
The Pavilion of Latvia in the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia – was organized by kim? Contemporary Art Centre in collaboration with the New York art space Art in General. New pieces of work, created especially for the Arsenale of Venice were exhibited in the exposition North by Northeast – large-scale photographs and videos by Kaspars Podnieks with the peasants of Drusti portrayed on the background of their farms, and installation by Kriss Salmanis – rhythmically swaying wood. Unfolding the relationship between the artist and the real and constantly changing, man-made world, including t he imaginary boundaries of Europe and the centres, the artists focused on the highlighting of the matters of identity, uncertainty and intermediates.
The Latvian pavilion in the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia – ended with a record-breaking number of 222 620 visitors during the six months of the Biennale.
The architect of Riga version of The Pavilion – Austris Mailitis
Afterparty at restaurant Dārzs, Maskavas street 4, from 9p.m.
kim? exhibition hall will be closed on March 28
Within the project kim? has published the catalogue North by Northeast for the exposition of the Pavilion of Latvia that will be available during the exhibition in Riga.
In order to introduce the regions of Latvia with the exposition, the exhibition of The Pavilion of Latvia in the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia – North by Northeast will take place within the program of Cesis Art Festival in the town of Cesis from July 11 till August 3, 2014.
Kaspars Podnieks (born 1980) has been taking part in exhibitions since 1998. His work includes photography and video, installations and environment objects. Recent joint-exhibitions: Generation of the Place: Image, Memory and Fictions in Baltics (2012) in Kaunas, Lithuania; Preview Berlin (2011) in Berlin, Germany; Life in the Forest (2011) in Bialystok, Poland. Solo shows: Communicating Vessels (2011) and Unusual Place (2010) at kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga, Latvia. Kaspars Podnieks is an active participant in the social and political activities in his birthplace , the village of Dr usti, since 2005.
Kriss Salmanis (born 1977) works in the fields of photography, video, installations, animation and graphics and has taken place in international exhibitions since 1996. Recent solo shows: Light (2012) CAC in Vilnius, Lithuania; The Fragility of Trust (2012) gallery Alma in Riga, Latvia; The Earth may be spinning around the Sun, but the World is turning around me (2011) Raum linksrechts in Hamburg, Germany; Moving Landscape (2011) Contemporary Art Gallery in Bremen, Germany.
