21.12.2018 - 12.01.2019
In this exhibition Vītola continues her series of "Common issues in painting and everyday life" by creating two site specific, large scale paintings with a zipper that you can open and quite literally walk into an artwork. The artist playfully winks at the canonic notions of “entering a painting” and “exploring the space of an artwork”.
As hinted by the title "Common issues in painting and everyday life: Content", the subject matter and substance of painting (and everyday life) is one of the main issues explored in this show. Vītola paints about abstraction, that references her own previous artworks. So the teal coloured shapes could be seen as allusions to her artwork "Common issues in painting and everyday life 5” which consisted of a roll of painted surface and a sofa, or the red brick patterns could be seen as mutations of "Common issues in painting and everyday life” where there was a thermos of the same colour.
As artist herself has previously stated, an artwork by Elīna Vītola is a painting about painting. The exhibition is accompanied by handwritten letters (by the artist herself) addressed to the viewer. These letters can be read as romantic break-up notes, but they imply artist’s feelings towards this show and the relationship that she has with the viewer. You are welcome to take one letter with you.
Photocredit: Ansis Starks