The «Stritzky House», where Carl Christoph von Stritzky himself lived, hosts a new series of works by Kristiāna Dimitere. In several rooms, Kristiāna’s sculptures and new drawings glow in the dark. The exhibition will run until 6 April.
The main object of the exhibition, a rhinoceros relief in the glass window of Riga’s Smallest gallery, is inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov’s short story «Fatal Eggs» (1925), in which Professor Persikov, experimenting with eggs, discovers a red ray that accelerates the growth of living organisms. These eggs are also featured on the large rhinoceros that seems to be about to emerge from the glass window of the gallery.
The rhino is artistically realised as a monumental, almost two-metre-high relief on a pink pedestal. The eyes and claws are shaped, moulded and painted in an unusual two- way perspective. The figure’s mystically powerful aura is reminiscent of the Assyrian sculptures of the third millennium BC, placed at the entrances to cities to protect their inhabitants who made intercession to them. They symbolised constellations and zodiacs; the protective deities contained all life. They were guardians of the king, who sat as watchdogs. This superstition has continued through the centuries. The entrance gate of the villa of K. K. von Strick also bears the images of Hermes and Dionysus, created in 1891 by August Franz Foltz, one of the most important masters of Latvian decorative sculpture.
Curatated by Kristians Fukss Music: Kaspars Dimiters
Supported by Valsts Kultūrkapitāla fonds, Innovative Composites, TĀLAVA
KRISTIĀNA DIMITERE is one of the best known contemporary sculptors in Latvia. However, her work does not stop at sculpture. Kristiāna is equally professional in drawing, painting, installations and objects.
Quite often, the occasional self-proclaimed connoisseur of contemporary art might perceive the ideas of Kristiāna Dimitere as banal. Either way, the courage to be banal is her trump card. The shapes she creates are confident, and so is she when it comes to her message. Her brave gestures point to genuine mastery.
Kristiāna Dimitere’s recent exhibitions include «Ó A S I S» (2024) at ALMA, Riga and
«Don’t Cry! Feminist Perspectives in Latvian Art: 1965-2023» at the Latvian National Museum of Art. ALMA has hosted her most ambitious solo exhibitions, such as «WOOF! WOOF!» (2021), a tribute to the artist’s three dogs that have accompanied her in life,
«Secular Resonance» (2011) and «La bella bambina» (2008). Dimitere has participated in the group exhibition «GALERIJA ALMA @ PADURES MUIŽA» (2021).
Kristiāna Dimitere’s works are in the collections of the Latvian National Museum of Art, Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, Halsmstate City Museum, Swedbank Bank, Hotel Neiburgs and VV Foundation.
Photography: Dāvis Drēziņš
