Andris Vītoliņš
Solo painting exhibition
04.10. – 25.10.2006

Andris Vītoliņš is a young artist (b. 1975) who has found expression in various art media (installations, objects) but over the last five years, painting has become his preferred technique. Vītoliņš examines the cityscape’s industrial motifs that mainly bear witness to the objects of bygone times – machines, factories and various mechanical elements.

Vītoliņš paints by transferring drawings of images from photographs onto canvas. Unlike what the viewer might expect, his paintings have none of the resigned existence of wreckage – on the contrary, they are dynamic and they pulsate. The artist’s works have a laconic and decorative quality; with a few bright and clean colours, he achieves an effect of dynamic movement that characterises Vītoliņš as a true child of the industrial age.

The painter manages to combine a broad range of emotional expressions – the urban with the romantic, the old and the innovative, the local and the global. In his paintings objective precision merges with the author’s subjective vision. Vītoliņš’ palette is associated with the synthetic world, which is like a natural necessity and an unavoidable evil. Light is an important element of his compositions, which, alongside the colouring, also shapes their rhythm and plastic.

Andris Vītoliņš’ works are risky and humane. Most probably they reflect the artist’s own sense of life which is saturated with intense explorations. Electronic music is an important source of inspiration and often accompanies him while he is working. It can be confidently said that Vītoliņš has found his own original style and this is confirmed by the inclusion of his work in the collection of the LNMA.

Exhibition curator Diāna Barčevska

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