Gallery Late - Opening of "Obelisks" Klāvs Loris

As part of Gallery Late on May 29, M/Gallery will remain open until 21:00 and will be hosting an exhibition opening. See the full list of participants in Gallery Late here.

How to illustrate the inexplicable drive that drives humanity and urges the individual to move forward? In his exhibition, artist Klāvs Loris presents a series of paintings that explore through abstraction the ways in which we encounter, resist and re-create reality. It questions how the relationship between reality and man is formed. A human being whose mind, according to the artist, "naively and even absurdly runs 'against the pen' of inevitable entropy". The obelisk is the central object of the created works, both visually and thematically, symbolising the aspiration to heaven, the gods and the immortality attributed to them, as well as the highest point of civilisation's achievement and power lust at the same time.

The obelisk is a type of monument that originated in ancient Egyptian culture but later spread throughout the world. It is a square, monolithic pillar made of granite or other hard materials. Obelisks were believed by their builders to have religious and magical powers and were used to communicate with the gods. Today, obelisks, which survive in many parts of the world, continue to serve as symbols of power and prestige. Between them, like structural constructions, Klavs Loris uses painting techniques to unravel the many layers of reality that can appear to be aimless chaos in the everyday. Within the framework of the series, these monumental obelisks are slowly demolished, suggesting the mechanisms of mind control and their application to the rules of the game set by the world order.

Klāvs Loris (1988) graduated from the Department of Painting at the Art Academy of Latvia, furthered his studies at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and was a laureate of the SEB Painting Scholarship 2014. Since graduating from the Janis Rozentals Art School, he has held several solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Latvia and abroad. His works have been exhibited at the Vilnius Painting Triennial at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design, the Arsenāls Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Sydney Latvian House, the Māksla XO Gallery, the Hangar Art Centre in Brussels, and elsewhere. In 2015, he won the Grand Prix at the JCE (Jeune creation Europeenne. Biennale d'art contemporain in Paris. He is also a guest lecturer at the Art Academy of Latvia.