Andris Eglītis

Trzeba wyobraźni, żeby stworzyć rzeczywistość / It Takes Imagination to Build Reality,  2015

various media

green space in Zamknięta Street

 

In his work, Andris Eglītis focuses on the complex symbolic nature of the square situated in Zamknięta Street. The flag poles, monumental casts of anchors, military bunkers and elements of the natural landscape – all juxtaposed in a limited space – are compositionally a part of the side street of the main communication thoroughfare.

Through a number of interferences, aiming to reshape the existing space itself as a display, the artist has created new semantic relationships between the objects. In his work, he emphasises the functions of the place, which, throughout history, have acquired new layers. The existing elements, reflecting the symbols of power and value systems that change with the passage of time, have been transformed into the space of poetic and somewhat mysterious connotations. The artist is interested in aesthetics, the language and the durability of form as well as the relationship that arises between them and users of urban space. Employing sparse range of interference and form, the artist points to the barriers that exist not only in public space but also in access to art. For these reasons, he seeks a user-friendly formula that would enable the audience to develop a more intimate relationship with the work.

In his work, Eglītis combines the idea of the centre and the periphery, the representation and intimacy, limitations and accessibility.

Andris Eglītis (b. 1981) – graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia (Latvijas mākslas akadēmija), where he now lectures. He also studied sculpture at Manchester Metropolitan University and at the Institute of Art at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts as well as at the Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent. Awarded Latvia’s most prestigious art award, the Purvītis Prize (2013). In 2015, together with Katrīna Neiburga, he represented Latvia at the International Biennale of Art in Venice.