EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: The Beauty Mirror, one of many mirror related works on display, reflects theraputic light that helps improve complexion.
RIGA - The crowd clapped awkwardly as Mayor Janis Birks snipped the ceremonial ribbon to open Riga's newest art gallery, inartistically named "Riga's Art Space." One glance through the crowd was enough to reveal which guests were the artists and which the rich politicians and businessmen (and, of course, which were the hackneyed journalists…)
The Jan. 17 event marked the official opening day of Riga's Art Space, an exhibition hall built by the Riga Cultural Center under the auspices of the Riga City Council.
The vast area is completely underground, with an intricate and extensive lighting system that allows artists to perfectly tweak the lighting on each individual piece of art.
This feature makes the new hall the perfect place for prominent Latvian artist Gints Gabrans' latest collection, fresh from a major art festival in Venice, Italy.
The Exhibition
"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" So goes the infamous line from the witch in "Snow White."
But the "Beauty Mirror," one of many fascinating mirror-related works in Gabrans' exhibition, titled "Paramirrors," has a less sinister function.
Rather than feeding one's ego or spitting out the latest gossip from whatever fashion magazine happens to be hot at the moment, this mirror actually makes the viewer more beautiful by reflecting only "therapeutic" high wave-length light.
Directly behind the magic mirror are two more full body mirrors, facing each other about a meter apart. At first they may seem unremarkable 's at least until you notice that the mirrors are reflecting you but somehow not each other.
This setup stands in stark contrast to another display, within a large covered room, which has been divided into two parts separated by a sheet of glass. As the lighting slowly shifts, at one moment you are able to see the people in the next room, and the next a long corridor of mirror frames.
Perhaps the most interesting piece in the exhibition is a small ring of jet black liquid housed in the center of a waist high table. Every 20 seconds or so something completely indescribable happens to the liquid. A clump of small bubbles indent the liquid, holding their bright silver form for just a few seconds. Leaning over the table for a closer look won't help at all 's the apparently supernatural liquid is just as mysterious close up. A bright light reflects the shapes onto a white wall, revealing a strange geometry in the seemingly random bubbles.
The center of the room features a small, glowing ball which looks like something out of "Van Helsing." The orb glows various colors but somehow does not emit any light.
In the back of the gallery is a massive screen showing a slowly rotating room full of meditating people. When standing in front of the mirror located in the center of the screen, it is almost possible to hear the subliminal messages whispered out of speakers on the ceiling. In a press release, Gabrans said the display was supposed to put its viewers into a sort of hypnosis.
The exhibition also features a few non-mirror pieces. Two large quartz crystals face each other, with a small golden ball hovering between them (apparently held up by a jet of air coming from the base).
Lining one wall is a series of other bits of crystal-related art 's interesting but definitely not the strongest parts of the exhibition.
Overall, the whole package is very well done. The art is more than visually appealing: it makes viewers stop and think about the wondrous properties of light that so many of us take for granted.
Riga's Art Space
Kungu street 3
Exhibition runs until Jan. 28
Open Tue - Sun, noon - 7:30 p.m.
