Opening at Kim?: Two solo shows by Ditte Gantriis and Armands Zelčs

2018 12 06 — 2019 01 27 at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre
Author Echo Gone Wrong
Published in Events in Latvia

WHEN YOU READ THIS, NOTHING SPECIAL WILL HAVE HAPPENED
Armands Zelčs

Armands Zelčs. Publicity image, 2018.

Armands Zelčs. Publicity image, 2018.

We don’t know exactly where we are. The signs are lost in the noises from cars. Outlines of buildings resemble one another like holes in cheese, even though they are different. Interiors of public offices lead newcomers into labyrinths each in its own way. No matter where you go, however, something red is fluttering like in a Chagall painting. Anyone who has come unprepared becomes a short circuit sparking in a corner.

Text by Kaspars Groševs

Armands Zelčs belongs to the new generation of Latvian artists. His works linger around carefully made and thoughtful objects. The title of the Zelčs’ exhibition “When You Read This , Nothing Special Will Have Happened” holds the intriguing and ironic undertone that is common for the artist’s practice. The upcoming exhibition reflects on topics such as isolation (voluntary or compulsory) and the alterations within one’s self-awareness in different states, caused by being located in a specific environment.

Armands Zelčs (1978) is a Latvia-born artist. Zelčsstudied at the Latvian Academy of Art and Berlin University of the Arts . Armands Zelčs’ exhibition “Trails of Fading Landscapes” was displayed at Hobusepea Gallery in Estonia and at Kim? Contemporary Art Center in Latvia. Zelčs has taken part in several group exhibitions – “NNN” at the Latvian National Museum of Art, “TERRA INCOGNITA. Familiar Infinity” at KUMU in Estonia, “Gaisma kabeļa galā” at the Latvian Railway History Museum, “LILIY’S POOL” at Art in General in the United States, “Exchange” at Stiftung akku Emmen in Switzerland, “24 SPACES–CACOPHONY” at Malmö Konsthall in Sweden and others.

OPEN MARRIAGE
Ditte Gantriis
Curated by Dita Birkenšteina

Ditte Gantriis. Publicity image, 2018.

Ditte Gantriis. Publicity image, 2018.

Following the lines of Ditte Gantriis’ artistic praxis, the upcoming exhibition “Open Marriage” revolves around the theme ‘Desire’ as a cultural narration – explicit, borderline painful yet a potent sensory experience. Exhibition “Open Marriage” simultaneously reflectings person constituent components such as love and lust, freedom and addiction, and desire.

This will be Gantriis’ first show in the Baltic countries and it will be comprised of sculptural objects and a mural. The exhibition in a poetic and indirect way resonates with the emotions and feelings accompanying an open-relationship model.

Ditte Gantriis (born 1980) is a Danish artist living and working in Copenhagen. She has completed her Master’s degree at the Danish School of Design. Gantriis has participated in exhibitions in Europe and the United States, of which the most recent is the solo exhibition “Sexual Feeling” at Frutta Gallery in Rome (2016), “Peace, Love & Harmony” at SALTS Gallery in Birsfelden, Switzerland (2016), and group exhibitions “The Grove” Hester Gallery in New York (2016), “In the Depth of the Surface” at Ex Fabrica Orobia in Milan (2016), “Trust” at Kunstal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen (2015), and Frutta gallery expositions in the arts fairs, including Frieze London in 2016 and others.

The exhibitions are supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Danish Arts Foundation, Frutta Gallery and Valmiermuiža.

The exhibition will be on display until January 27, 2019.