On Prussian blue, Indian yellow, Naples yellow, French blue, Venetian red, Turkish blue, Indian red, Sienna brown, English red, Japanese red, Oriental blue, Hansa yellow – Latvian grey.
The exhibition brings together observations of city life. Nine objects and a painting sold by the kilo.
Krišs Salmanis is a reserved intellectual in whose works, minimal and discrete form is bridled together with an unexpected, paradoxical function. In spite of the seemingly simple execution, the content-based aspect of the work reaches far beyond the thinking and order of things that constitute the everyday.
The allure of the works is evident to anyone susceptible to wry jokes and conceptually flawless messages. Even if the materiāls used in the installation refer to the tradition of trash art and trivial attributes of consumer society, the artist presents them as if they were jewels of great value or idiosyncratic monuments to the age. The deformation of both the concept and the material allow Krišs to link the ostensibly incompatible, prompting the viewer to believe that in his meticulously planned staging, everything is determined by chance.
ALMA has represented the artist for several years, starting with his solo exhibition “The Fragility of Trust” (2012). The gallery has hosted several of his solo exhibitions: “Everything we are looking for is always close by, perhaps we are just reading the signs wrong?” (together with Andris Breži, 2015), “tutto splenderà! Ah!” (2020) and “Construction” (2021). ALMA has represented the artist with solo presentations at ArtBrussels (Years 2016, 2014, 2013) and ViennaFair (2012). Salmanis participated in the exhibition Galerija ALMA @ Padures muiža (2021).
Selected collections:
Latvian National Museum of Art, Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, Estonian Art Museum Kumu, Finnish Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, video art archive Transitland, Zuzeum, VV Fondation, Vitols Contemporary and BTA Art.
Salmanis represented Latvia at the 55th Venice Biennale with the exhibition North by Northeast (with Kaspars Podnieks).
Duration of the exhibition till 19 December.
Supported by: State Culture Capital Foundation / Riga City Council
