Breaking artistic boundaries in Riga

RIGA - Over the last few decades, artists that have made their body the central focus of their work have not only gained international fame, but have been getting due recognition of their achievements in breaking the boundaries of art, including names such as Serbian-born artist Marina Abramovic. No less of a figure in this shattering of borders is ORLAN, France’s most iconic and perhaps most contraversal artist. Riga’s Museum of Decorative Arts and Design is hosting her solo exhibit entitled “The Icon of the French Contemporary Art. Plan du Film and Other Scenarios“ from Nov. 8 to Jan. 31, 2015.

Her use of her body in her artwork, which ranges from sculpture and photography to installations and multimedia projects, raises questions about the line between beauty and ugliness as well as the differences between men and women, resisting all traditions and ideals often present in art that one might feel they recognize in her portraits.
Her more recent work has focused on plastic surgery and the processes surrounding it. She has had a total of nine plastic surgeries, which have altered her forehead and chin. Generally when people think of plastic surgery, they focus on whether the end result is aesthetically pleasing. However her art focuses on the changes her body undergoes as they happen. She hopes that this raises discussion of the standards that we have for such surgeries, for both the male and female body.

Her other more recent work has dealt with creating digital images of her face that is then transposed onto facial representations, such as paintings and sculptures, of people from Pre-Columbian and African tribes.
The opening will take place on Nov. 8 at Riga’s Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.

Museum of Decorative Arts and Design
Skarnu Street 10/20, Riga
Nov 8-Jan. 31, 2015