Photo reportage from the group exhibition ‘Voices’ at gallery LOW

The group exhibition “Voices” at gallery LOW is part of Riga Pride 2022 official program. The show features the youngest generation of LGBTQ artists from the Baltics who bring forward the marginalized identities of lesbian, trans and non-binary perspectives through their works.

WE ARE PROPAGANDA and MES ESAME VISUR ( we are everywhere) are the slogans that drove the need to platform these artists and their works. Used by the bustling and unapologetic LGBTQ grassroot community activist organizations in Lithuania, these strong manifests declare and request instead of begging and hoping. The same spirit can be found in the themes approached and explored by the artists exhibited in Voices. The works are personal not in way that can be dismissed as representing only a one person’s life. They are personal in their integrity to the lived life of the artist who will not compromise on their identity, whether it is explicit in the artwork or not.

‘’Togetherness in being weird and weirdness in being together” is what Alex Kochan writes about his ongoing playful print series that include merging stigmatizing stereotypes and misgendering with demons and poodles. Community must be a keyword when seeking queer empowerment, especially when that community does not want to be misguidedly subsumed under the umbrella of mere tolerance. Dorian Rosenthal’s photo bodyscapes embrace rediscovery, reimagination and re-embodiment that follows the constantly morphing consciousness, referencing the myth of the stability of gender binarity. The intricacy of the image, the selection of detail and close focus continue in Janina Sabaliauskaite’s hand prints. A cheeky window into the dyke lesbian home (and not only) life of the artist and her partner Dovile Lapinskaite, the female gaze surely is doing some serious talking here about what and who constitutes the position of power and visibility. Ksenya Tarasova’s diary-esque affirmation of herself to the viewer is at once vulnerable, stern and relentless in its narrative as a ‘’self-portrait collaging together real memories to reclaim oneself from the trauma of an unlived life.” The life to be lived in its full potentiality is supported by Liina Lelov’s and Valdek Laur’s project Roosa Ila/ Pink Slime, who with the help of attractive muted pink little manifestations of the dreaded liberal agenda now invite not only the inhabitants of Estonia to take part in an active support of the community and all the creative hazards that come along with it, but also ask Latvia to recognize the shared burdens and joys of a free existence.

BALSIS/VOICES is supported by State Culture Capital Foundation and Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.

BALSIS/VOICES
Alex Kochan, Liina Lelov & Valdek Laur, Dorian Rosenthal, Janina Sabaliauskaite, Ksenya Tarasova
10.06. – 09.07.2022
LOW Gallery
Curated by Mētra Saberova

Photography: gallery LOW