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With Seven-League Boots. Stop – Finland. Works from the Kiasma Collection in Latvia

Adel Abidin, Michael, 2015. Photo Finnish National Gallery / Pirje Mykkänen

The exhibition With Seven-League Boots. Stop – Finland. Works from the Kiasma Collection will be on show at the Riga Bourse Art Museum from 25 November 2017 to 7 January 2018 (Dome Square 6, Riga).

The exhibition foreshadows the opening of the Latvian Contemporary Art Museum in the near future. “We would like the nascent Latvian Contemporary Art Museum to become an important art centre in the Baltic region. A task of equal importance is to promote the public’s interest in information about contemporary art in Latvia and nearby areas,” stresses Boris Teterev, Chair of the Board of the Teterev Foundation.

The selection of works from the Kiasma Collection reflects the legacy of pop art and traces its influence over the decades. Contemporary artists continue to find inspiration in the realms of popular culture, advertising, the Internet and the social media. The key is the artists’ attitude and social awareness. Swedish artist Jacob Dahlgren‘s installation is a cube of colourful ribbons that viewers can dive into; Iranian-Finnish Adel Abidin has resurrected pop star Michael Jackson for a television interview; Finnish Jani Leinonen subverts the aesthetics of McDonald’s in his work.

The exhibition features nearly 50 works from the Kiasma Collections by altogether 23 artists. The artists are: Adel Abidin, Petri Ala-Maunus, Helen Chadwick, John Chamberlain, Jacob Dahlgren, Sebastian Errazuriz, Mikko Hintz, Riikka Hyvönen, Juha Hälikkä, Tuomas A. Laitinen, Jani Leinonen, Roy Lichtenstein, Liisa Lounila, Robert Lucander, Sami Lukkarinen, Kalle Mustonen, Robert Rauschenberg, Aurora Reinhard, Stiina Saaristo, Riiko Sakkinen, Iiu Susiraja, Päivi Takala and Timo Vaittinen.

The exhibition is curated by Vita Birzaka from Riga Bourse in collaboration with Arja Miller and Kati Kivinen, the former and the present chief curators of collections at Kiasma, respectively.

Produced in collaboration with the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the exhibition at Riga Bourse Art Museum belongs to a series of contemporary art exhibitions showcasing art from the Baltic region. The exhibition also celebrates the centenaries of both countries, Finland and Latvia.