Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

Results found: 3

first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last

Search results

Search:
in the keywords:  Latvian art
help Sort By:

help Limit search:
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
1

"Dubultā koda" pazīmes ortodoksālā socreālisma posma tēlotājā mākslā Latvijā

100%
Kļaviņš E.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2022
|
vol. 26
52-65
EN
The phases of orthodox Socialist Realism art in Latvia (1940–1941, 1945–1956) are already researched and interpreted in many publications of Latvian art historians. They reveal the robust suppression of local art life by the totalitarian regime during the Soviet occupation, the force of the ideological pressure on artists and describe the considerable body of artworks named Socialist Realism. The prescribed themes for art production were given together with the dogma of Socialist Realism and examples to be followed. For all that, in the course of the first post-war years artists managed to escape in the realm of politically neutral genres and images; landscapes dominated exhibitions, the legitimate and desirable compositions with images of the so-called working people (labourers, farmers) were made according to the tradition of the 1930s without unquestionable features of Soviet life (paintings of Eduards Kalniņš, Ārijs Skride, Jānis Liepiņš, Ģederts Eliass). The youngest generation (students of the Art Academy) acquired another double-coded concept. Painters, who composed conventional scenes with farmers’ work or with happy children, had to create the obligatory optimistic mood not only by postures and facial expressions but also by sunlight effects. Therefore, volumes were modelled using colours dependent on the light of plein air. The role of brushwork increased. Sometimes elementary narratives were reduced to the simple fixation of depicted figures and their dynamics. This development towards Impressionism resulted in a mutation of Socialist Realism and could be called “Socialist Impressionism”. Historical Impressionism was rejected by the authorities of the orthodox Socialist Realism, nevertheless, its elements were integrated into some individual versions of the style, including the achievements of some leading Soviet representatives of it (Yuri Pimenov, Arkady Plastov, Tatyana Yablonskaya). In Latvia two graduation works of Art Academy students Bruno Celmiņš and Zigurds Kampars are good examples of “Socialist Impressionism” (both 1954, LNMA), the best was an urban plein air scene “At a Book Table” (1955, Latvian Art Academy) by Gunārs Cīlītis. The trend continued in the next years (notable were the paintings of Edgars Iltners, Rita Valnere, et al.) during the so-called political “thaw” and led to further mutations of local Socialist Realism.
2

Ķermenis un afekta reprezentācija Ilmāra Blumberga portretu sērijās

84%
Feldmane I.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2023
|
vol. 27
52-62
EN
The article analyses painter, graphic artist and stage designer Ilmārs Blumbergs’ (1943–2016) artworks in which he thematises the body as his intimate space subject to finality and death. Besides existential and intellectual issues, Blumbergs has always been interested in human physical existence in art. Searches for the meaning of the body and bodily states are an important theme in Blumbergs’ art. The author interprets Blumbergs’ self-portraits as imprints of his individual experience. They embody the transformations of the portrait genre in Latvian art since the 1980s; thus in his case, the traditional boundaries of the genre are significantly expanded. Affect theory as a critical discourse in the social sciences and humanities surged in the mid-1990s. This article deals with affect theory and the possibilities of using it in the interpretation of artworks. Considering the mutual connection between affect and body, the article outlines several conceptions of the body identifiable in Blumbergs’ art, including body as a space where the battle for survival takes place, and the performative body as a constituent part of the artwork. The author takes up the interpretation of works titled “Me Myself in Strontium Radiation” (2010–2012) and “My Head in Strontium Radiation”, concluding that Blumbergs’ body in “Strontium” works is real, corporeal and affected by external conditions, while at the same time being abstract too. Material and abstract features are united in the context of affect studies. In other words, the body depicted in the artwork and related to the affect can be viewed as an indivisible unity embracing both spiritual and material substances. From the perspective of Deleuze’s affect theory defining affect as an intensive force, the idea of active matter comes to the fore. Strontium radiation depicted in Blumbergs’ paintings is a representation of “expressive” matter. The author invites viewers to spot connotations of affect and bodily reactions in several of Blumbergs’ works.
3

Kristapa Ģelža daiļrades tēmu analīze: no sociālpolitiski kritiskā līdz poētiskajam

84%
Birzaka-Priekule L.
Makslas Vesture un Teorija
|
2022
|
vol. 26
81-93
EN
The goal of this article is an in-depth analysis of subject matter in Kristaps Ģelzis’s (1962) oeuvre, attempting to specify important trajectories in the artist’s development. Ģelzis is considered a master of Latvian contemporary art whose career dates back to the 1980s. He has participated in both local and international exhibitions. Ģelzis is one of the so-called trespassers’ generation of artists along with Oļegs Tillbergs (1956), Ojārs Pētersons (1956), Sarmīte Māliņa (1960), Andris Breže (1958) and others known for their different artistic means of expression and broadening the concept of art in Latvia. Ģelzis also belongs to the so-called first generation of conceptualists whose manifestations were characterised by expansive and imaginative installations, large-scale serigraphs as well as meticulously refined procedural works. The range of media used by Ģelzis is almost unlimited. He expresses himself in any available material or medium; what matters is that the specific medium resonates with and executes the artist’s sharp-eyed and typically witty insights. Therefore, this article focuses on the growing significance of the content-based dimension of Ģelzis’s work, which is becoming a major point of reference for any analysis of specific stages of his oeuvre, placing thematic analysis centre stage. Assessing Ģelzis’s oeuvre over time, one must conclude that socio-political critique thematically prevails. In the context of Latvian contemporary art, Ģelzis is among the few whose artistic output is also notable for a sharp, candid, ironic and critical reaction to the events of the day in both local and international contexts. Ģelzis utilises individual history and experience (the environment, state, political events and consequences arising from systemic changes) to introduce his observations and to speak candidly and ironically about the nature of socio-political transformations and their impact on society. He possesses a sensitive command of symbolic elements of the local environment, which he masterfully integrates into his works, reflecting on the societal issues of the day. Oftentimes, Ģelzis’s works are characterised by the presence of humour and paradox in which the observation or image of a specific event fit into the broader logic of events.
first rewind previous Page / 1 next fast forward last
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.