Opening of "When my mind draws, my hands don’t think" Ričards Znutiņš-Znutāns

From May 30 to June 28, 2025, the Kalnciema Quarter gallery will host artist Ričards Znutiņš-Znutāns’ first solo exhibition "When my mind draws, my hands don’t think", in which he explores the hand as an instrument of communication, expression, and emotion.  

Exhibition opening: May 30, 19:00.

The exhibition will feature large-format acrylic paintings, smaller silkscreen works, and a sculpture created using mixed media. The works are thematically structured around three central lines: dreams and regret, hatred, and hope.  

The silkscreen works are inspired by interviews with people from various countries who shared their experiences of dreams and regrets. The artist focuses particular attention on the gesticulation of hands, examining how gestures can tell stories and reveal emotions without words.  

The exhibition is both visually intense and research-based, grounded in the artist’s deep interest in the meaning of body language and its emotional impact.  

Until now, Ričards Znutiņš-Znutāns has mainly worked in the digital medium, but with this project, he turns for the first time to painting, silkscreen printing, and sculpture. In 2024, he defended his master’s thesis at LUCA School of Arts in Belgium, exploring the symbolic meaning of hands in communication.  

When my mind draws, my hands don’t think is his most ambitious and personal project to date.

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About the gallery

The Kalnciema Quarter Gallery is an art and cultural space located in the historical neighborhood of Pārdaugava, Riga, situated in the courtyard of restored 19th-century wooden houses in the Kalnciema Quarter. It is a place where contemporary art, tradition, and creativity meet, providing a platform for both local and international artists to exhibit their work and engage with a broader audience.  The gallery's exhibition program covers a wide range of themes – from painting, sculpture, and graphics to contemporary installation art and conceptual projects. The gallery actively works to make culture more accessible to the wider public by involving the local community.  During exhibitions, the gallery transforms into an open space, hosting activities initiated by local residents – samurai practice sessions, book readings, breathing exercises, silent meditations, contemporary ceramics pop-ups, lectures, and other events that enrich the gallery’s life.

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