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| WHERE CONCEPT MEETS MEANING OF LIFE Alise Tīfentāle An exhibition of photographs by Inta Ruka and Egons Spuris (1931-1990) at the State Museum of Art (15 August-14 September). | |
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"The teacher and his pupil, companion, bag-carrier, continuer of his life, his shadow and conscience," is what Gunārs Binde writes in the exhibition catalogue. Two generations: Egons Spuris was exhibiting already from the 60s, while Inta Ruka started in the late 80s. Two views: the searching view of Egons Spuris, the testimony of Inta Ruka. Two approaches: the philosophical approach of Egons Spuris, and the intuitive approach of Inta Ruka. Common to them is photography as a means to fulfilment.
In 2003, entering the State Museum of Art, the different and the common aspects of the personalities of the two photographers and their quest for artistic development remains only on the pages of the text. The exhibition has been conceptually arranged in such a way as to maintain the myth of complementary but independent viewpoints, which have influenced and continue to influence the development of Latvian photography. There has been a conscious selection of works by Egons Spuris that contrast with and at the same time supplement the photographs of Inta Ruka. Egons Spuris has not always worked only in the field of urban landscape. In the 60s and 70s, he was actively seeking forms of self-expression in salon photography and has submitted works for international salons. These salon catalogues show Spuris' attempts in the directions that were recognised at the time (for example, aesthetic plasticity of the female body or face with a hint of drama), as well as in portrait photography and experiments with the technical possibilities of photography ("Double portrait" and "The lighthouse" in the book Mākslas foto ("Art Photography", Rīga, Liesma, 1971), and in typical salon-style exaggerated expression, ("Mārtiņš", 1968, published in the book Latvijas fotomāksla. Vēsture un mūsdienas ("Photo Art in Latvia. History and the Present Day", Rīga, Liesma, 1985)), as well as technical processing of graphic motifs, with the rural landscape as background (from the "Vibration" series). At the same time, the urban environment was attracting his attention - initially as material for graphic visualisation of dynamism, as for example in the popular 1968 photograph "Inertia", with a swing and the outline of a building repeated in photomontage technique. (Spuris also submitted this work for salon exhibitions, such as the 29th Japan International Salon of Photography in 1969; it is published in countless catalogues and books.) Since today nobody can ascertain how the photographer himself would assess his photo archive and which photos he would choose to display together, we must be content with what we are shown. In this case, it was important to show the photographs that nowadays, in view of the time distance since their creation, would serve to maintain the reputation of Egons Spuris as master and teacher in the field of the search for the urban soul in particular. More than 60 pictures have been selected for the exhibition, mostly from the series "Riga. Working Class Districts", some of which could be seen already last year at the exhibition organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art "The City. Stories about Riga" at the State Museum of Art. And these are the works Helēna Demakova refers to in the exhibition catalogue, when she writes: "There is no trace of salon style in his work." In my view, salon style is in itself nothing bad or deplorable, and it all depends on the interpretation. A graphic view has always characterised Spuris, expressed in his classic pictures "Inertia", "Expression" and "Vibrations" (also mentioned in the catalogue by his contemporary Binde), and, however paradoxical it may sound, they were in their time gladly accepted at those same international salons. The series "Riga. Working Class Districts" is a treasure of the history of Latvian photography. The photographs contain all that which makes a work of art a classic. They show an allegorical revelation of the essence of the age through individual experience. (The view is directed downwards. If it is straight ahead, then it hits a wall, if it is upwards, then it comes across electrical cables and other prosaic barriers.) There is a form of intellectual spite that makes one turn away from empty, superficial joy, noise and bustle, and turn to introspective meditation, resulting in revelation, though it might last only for that moment when the eye "notices" the picture and the lens projects the image onto film. They show vibrations of the soul, or the resonance of delicate matter - the selected frame and composition may bring about an emotional reaction from the viewer, regardless of the level of perception of the content. They have artistic qualities that can be enjoyed regardless of all that has been mentioned here: the poetic play of light and dark, the graphic composition of shadows and the rendering aesthetic of a seemingly ugly, ordinary environment, as well as a cinematographic sense of time and particular surrealist motifs arising through certain non-traditional perspectives. The rectangles and mute walls of the city, and streets where children play, without understanding their place within a composition created by some higher force, have become in the works of Egons Spuris a rich material for the creation of a multi-layered, multidimensional message in two-dimensional images. The above mentioned collection of articles Latvijas fotomāksla ("Photo Art in Latvia"), published in 1985, quotes Egons Spuris: "Above all else, I value the inner dynamism of a work, its tautness and balance or repose, the character of things and settings (not the characteristic features), their conditions, and the fantastic in the real." (P. 186) His serious, philosophical attitude towards photography as a means of cognising the world and truth is also one of the reasons why his works are valuable. | |
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