“My work is constantly changing, and so am I, through new experiences, conversations and developments following up past initiatives. Nature, people and the myriad things happening all around me are the principal triggers for my creativity located at the juncture of painting and graphic art, although, inevitably, my spirits and creative processes are now materially dampened by the war in Ukraine,” admits the artist, Māris Čačka.

Čačka’s creative output over the past couple of years maps significant finds on his individual artistic journey, leaving meaningful marks in the cultural landscape through numerous powerful exhibitions, where his prolific creative mind keeps developing new forms of expression emerging from earlier compositions. The artist continues to speak about the endless river of information bits and images inundating our perception in a world of countless suspended thoughts, erratic actions and overwhelming temptations.

This theme was especially strong in the author’s largest solo show to date – “Neuro-Pathways”, which ran at the Rīga Art Space exhibition hall in February and March 2022. To quote from its curator, art historian Inga Šteimaine: “Čačka’s work is a palpable visual metaphor for this current state, when an abundance of goals and interferences break out into sudden and surprising reactions, fragmenting and traumatising our ideas, creating an “impossible” technological mix, forgetting historical boundaries and forming unprecedented hybrids. Our ancient brains, which have humanised us by their tendency to perceive the “insignificant,” continue to do so today, but in the age of technology, the information flow becomes disproportionate and keeps “hurling” our minds through thousands of neuro-pathways.”

How far do these pathways go, and what is their topography in the artist’s creative output? The question remains open, but one thing is clear – Čačka stays true to his chosen path and direction and keeps producing striking visual records of his artistic thought and subconscious insights.

Zane Melāne

Māris Čačka’s solo exhibition NOTES is on display from 18 January till 1 April 2023 at the MIKC Daugavpils Design and Art Secondar School “Saules Skola”
Opening of exhibition: January 18 at 1PM

SIVIA and Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre invites artists to participate in the 11th International Latgale Graphic Art Symposium.

Place and time of the symposium: Daugavpils, Latvia, March 10 – 24, 2023

Participants of the symposium: 10 professional artists will take part in the symposium. The selection of participants will be competition-based, taking into consideration the submitted materials (application form, CV, portfolio – visual information which meets the below mentioned requirements).

To apply for Symposium, applicant has to complete application form below till  January 31, 2023.

APPLICATION FORM

From 22 October 2022 until 30 March 2023 is on display Beate Gjersvold’s exhibition at  Daugavpils Palace of Culture. 

What is TIME? There is no simple explanation for the concept. It is hard to define and understand. Philosophy, religion, science and arts all have different definitions. Is it literally possible to measure Time? We have clocks and a system based on seconds, minutes and hours, and still, we can’t define it exactly. What is five minutes? And five hours? We have all experienced Time passing slowly or running fast. Sometimes one hour feels like two. Or the other way round.

In my landscape paintings, I use watercolour to contemplate what I call “the traces of Time”, drawing inspiration from the forms, colours and objects in nature. I focus on everything that creates lines in a landscape – the stripes left by planes in the blue sky… the pattern of power lines against the clouds… poles, trees and branches… architecture… the horizon… silhouettes and formations. On an abstract level, the physical lines I paint can also be interpreted as timelines. Through them, I capture the feeling of passing Time. Some of my works contain nothing but lines and have time-related titles. So, in a sense, I create compositions with both lines and words. All languages have myriad words related to the concept of TIME, such as past, present, future, hour, minute, clock, tomorrow, fast, slow and many more. Over the past three years, I have delved deep into the concept of TIME. And still, I grapple with the ultimate question: what is TIME? It is difficult to understand what it really means. We are all familiar with Time, yet it remains a perpetual mystery.

Beate Gjersvold

Exhibition is produced by SIVIA Gallery

Organizers: Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils Palace of Culture

From 12 August 2022 till 26 August 2022 artist Māris Čačka participated in XII International Plein Air at „Eglės sanatoriją“ in Druskininkai, Lithuania.

On the occasion of the city of Zarasai’s birthday on 13 August at 5 p.m. the Zarasai Regional Museum (LT) presents an International group exhibition “Sivia galerija formas” by five Latvian artists (Vineta Kaulača, Aivars Baranovskis, Baiba Priedīte, Māris Čačka and Sigita Daugule).

The exhibition is on view until 17 September 2022.

From 10 to 12 June, SIVIA Gallery will present artworks by 4 wonderful artists from Latvia –
Aivars Baranovskis, Māris Čačka, Sigita Daugule and Vineta Kaulača.

The Rothko Centre is about to host the 10th International Latgale Graphic Art Symposium – the most significant international event in the graphic medium held in the Latgale Region. The symposium is produced by the SIVIA association, and this is its eighth iteration in the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre symposium framework. So far, this creative forum has brought together more than a hundred graphic artists from thirty-five countries. Today, it continues to revitalise the graphic medium in Daugavpils and raise the international visibility of Latgale through various printmaking activities, drawing new visiting artists to the region and maintaining other kinds of targeted efforts that keep shaping Latgale into an excellent space for creative work with an attractive international profile.

The symposium will run in Daugavpils from 13 to 27 May 2022. The list of participants includes eleven artists from eight countries: Tommy Schneider (Austria), Michael Schitnig (Austria), Inga Heamägi (Estonia), Lembe Ruben (Estonia), Vaidotas Janulis (Lithuania), Vaiva Kovieraite-Trumpe (Lithuania), Elisabet Alsos Strand (Norway), Hongge (Mary) Zhang (China), Charlotte Dorn (Germany), Robert Rabiej (Poland) and Dana Vasiļjeva (Latvia).

The symposium fortnight will offer discussions and workshops for practising artists and non-professional art lovers and will culminate with an exhibition opening and a symposium catalogue, demonstrating the diversity of formal solutions and themes pursued by symposium artists.

The symposium will formally start at 3 p.m. on 14 May 2022 at the Daugavpils Culture Palace, with the opening of Myth, Symbol and the Universe – an exhibition by Gunārs Krollis from the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre collection. The new show is a tribute to the master of Latvian graphics on the verge of his upcoming anniversary – a comprehensive visual record of how personal impressions and discoveries derived from lived experiences and extended studies of the world’s religions and cultures have continuously framed his reflections and creativity. Krollis’ refined artistic style rests on a rich creative vocabulary brimming with diverse and expressive imagery and rhythmical patterns of lines and fields, arranged into stately compositions and polished to perfection by the artist’s consummate touch. Myth and symbolism are the principal contexts for his imagery, and it is equally true for individual images and their constellations. Krollis balances them with visual references to the Universe and the subconscious, revealing his profound reflections on the meaning of life and today’s moral and ethical values and norms.

Krollis’ impressive exhibition record is one of the longest across the entire field of Latvian graphic art. Dating back to the first public display in 1956, it includes hundreds of exhibition projects in Latvia and beyond – in Europe, the States and the Middle East – and several family shows with Izabella Krolle and Inguna Krolle‑Irbe. The artist’s work is held in numerous public collections, most notably at the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, the Latvian National Museum of Art and other leading museums in the country, the Tretyakov Art Gallery and the Pushkin Art Museum, Russia and in multiple private collections domestically and beyond.

The symposium is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation and the Daugavpils City Council. The project is funded by the Latgale Region Development Agency and the Cultural Programme for Latgale by Latvian State Forests and State Culture Capital Foundation.

Māris Čačka’s latest solo exhibition OTHER DIALOGUES is on display from 24 March till 9 August 2022 at the Valka City Culture House (Emīla Dārziņa Str. 8, Valka, Latvia)