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| Life is What it is... Anita Sedliņa, Art Critic The new art history project "Overbridge" 26.02.-22.03.2009. A Creative workshop at the Latvian National Art Museum, Arsenāls Exhibition Hall | |
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In my time, when I was a student at the Latvian Academy of Art, as part of the educational process we too were given the opportunity to curate an exhibition of paintings at the Arsenāls creative workshop. Knowing full well that this is both a unique and a somewhat limiting opportunity (as the art works must be chosen from the Arsenāls collection), I would like to congratulate the students of the current course for trying to bring something new to the exhibition. A number of new works specially created for this event (by Andris Vītoliņš and Aleksejs Naumovs) were on display, and videos of the ceremonial openings of bridges were shown. | |
 Andris Vītoliņš. The Morning of November 18 in Riga. Acrylic on canvas. 130x195cm. 2009. Photo: Anita Sedliņa | |
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As students, we also did our best to abide by the principles of art analysis learned at the academy. In light of my own experience, I don't want to denigrate the dedication shown by the curators in carefully summarising the artists' biographies and producing lengthy descriptions of the bridges depicted in the paintings. But the question must be asked: who is the target audience for these descriptions of the works chosen for the exhibition? What then is the exhibition's message? The viewer can observe the intricacies of bridge construction and reminders of different historic periods, starting with Arvīds Egle's Building a Bridge over the Daugava (1957) and TTT Repair Brigade (1962) by Jānis Pauļuks. In line with changes in the social structure, the selected paintings show the next stage of the development of society: the delight and wonderment about technology represented by the bridge itself and its "inhabitants" - public and private transport. Henrijs Klebahs' View through the Window (1962) of the Railway Bridge demonstrates the abundance of both public and private transport, just as October Bridge (1962) by Nikolajs Petraškevics presents a panoramic view of what is now called the Stone Bridge, by magnifying the bridge's road section to show various transport vehicles. Daina Rinke's painting Workday (1975) is dominated by heavy vehicles, yet another proud affirmation of the joy of work. From one riverbank to the other, from glorification to ignorance, or even negation. The latest art works show this transformation of eras and values. Southern Bridge (2009) by Aleksejs Naumovs is seen from an angle where the purely picturesque silhouette of the bridge is not overshadowed by any vehicles or other contemporary "extras" (advertisements etc.). This statement reveals not only the change in political order and thinking, but also that technical achievements are merely routine. In his Independence Day Morning in Riga Andris Vītoliņš makes known that public transport is a hindrance to private vehicles trying to cross the bridge. And what is it that the driver of the private car can see out of his window on this national holiday, in the form of an advertisement on the back of the public transport? In this case, a somewhat crudely executed exhortation to listen to a Russian hit radio station. The new bridge is too skewed for us, the traffic jams continue, and on and on. Life is what it is... /Translator into English: Filips Birzulis/ | |
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