The Contemporary Art Exhibition

 As the first of three exhibitions in the winter series “Eternal Ephemerals”, TUR_telpa, space for contemporary art in Tallinas Kvartāls, will open with its first exhibition of 2024 on January 18th at 18:00 with Luīze Rukšāne's  "Folding Lines." (Locījuma vietas).

For their second winter series, TUR_telpa has again invited three artists to each create a solo exhibition in which they consider the unique space of TUR_telpa on Tallinas kvartāls and their interpretation of the theme “eternal ephemerals.” The first of these three exhibitions, titled “Folding Lines,” will feature new work by Luīze Rukšāne. It will open on January 18th at 18:00 and can be seen till February 17th. 

For “Folding Lines” Rukšāne explores the relationship with her maternal grandmother and in extension the value of the eldest generation and the sense of transience caused by the limitation of passing time. It is an apprehension most will recognize, the finite nature of the relationship with our elders and the sense of urgency to ask them all the important questions before it is too late, to learn the wisdom, but also the source of trauma that lies buried deep. And with it the question arises: to what degree do we feel the knowledge is relevant in our modern times and how do we want to confront the questions of the past. Rukšāne certainly feels that there is still something unresolved, she longs to be able to have the conversations that are awkward or for which there never seems to be a suitable moment. And her interest reaches further, to the general wisdom that the older generation has to offer. It is deeply personal yet universal. 

Luīze Rukšāne is best known for her true-to-life graphite drawings which have been exhibited in both solo and group shows in Latvia and abroad. For her exhibition at TUR_telpa she draws inspiration from the tablet photos her grandmother sends from the threshold of her home which document the weather and any other goings on. Rukšāne uses the photos, which are usually attached to an everyday greeting in the family group chat, to represent the relationship she has with her grandmother. Rukšāne transforms the communications and perspectives of her grandmother into her own interpretation. The digital snapshots become drawings in which something is gained and something is lost, on first glance the drawings might appear innocuous but there is a shade of darkness there as well, emblematic of the passing from one generation to the next. 

With the textiles that belonged to an elderly woman who passed away, Rukšāne has created impressive banner-like artworks that hang between six to seven meters from the ceiling and in each she has made subtle interventions by stitching the lines of specific folds into the material. It is a testament to the elderly woman's generation in their care of their material possessions and represents the contrast with the throw-away generation of the 21st century. By stitching folds in the textile, Rukšāne seems to want to cling to memories held in the creases pressed by time. They represent the fading values of a generation and should not be completely lost. Simultaneously, she seems to  acknowledge that the younger generation might need to reshape the wisdoms of the past just as she has transformed the functional nature of the textile into works of art. 

The exhibition, curated by TUR_telpa's Edd Schouten, will include several events related to the themes that are at the core of Luīze Rukšāne's show. The first is a conceptual artist talk concert in which musicians Robert Fleitz and Līga Griķe respond to Luīze Rukšāne and will create a unique program of music performed in TUR_telpa on January 24th. “Folding Lines” It is the first of three exhibitions in the winter series “Eternal Ephemerals” which will also include solo exhibitions of Kaspars Groševs and Dzelde Mierkalne.

About the artist:

Luīze Rukšāne (1995) has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Humanities, Audio Visual Media Art from the Art Academy of Latvia. Before that she studied at Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, and took courses at the Latvian University of Agriculture. She has been creating and participating in exhibitions since 2016. Working in various visual art media, organizing her own exhibitions and of her contemporaries. In her creative practice she expresses her love of the “imperfect perfections” of being human and reflects on concepts around growing and growing-up, memory and learning. Her drawings are serious and sometimes described as gloomy and a little scary, but they also carry a sense of irony and a careful fragility. They explore ideas of recurrence and personal progression in the process of repetition.

About TUR_telpa

TUR_telpa's ambition is to complement Riga's contemporary art scene by working closely with their selected artists to create high quality, curated art exhibitions. Collaborating with the distinctive characteristic of the space - which refers to both the traditional white cube and the building's industrial past - artists are invited to create new work and encouraged to experiment beyond what might be their conventional practice. Since it was founded by Tina Pētersone, Uldis Trapencieris and Rūdolfs Štamers in 2020, TUR_telpa has become one of the valued art spaces in Riga, organizing contemporary art exhibitions as well as concerts, performances, and poetry readings. Several of the exhibitions have been nominated for the Purvītis Prize with “Voices in My Heads” in June by Rūdolfs Štamers and “Lapa uz lapas” by Maija Kurševa in April receiving the honor. The other nominated exhibitions were "O" by Sabine Verners and Kristine Krause-Slucka's solo exhibition "Forced Movements of the Past".

TUR_telpa is a non-profit art initiative supported by the Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation and Rigas dome. For the latest news and events, please follow TUR_telpa's Instagram (tur_telpa) and/or Facebook page (TUR).