Kristaps Zarins

Kristaps Zarins (1962)

Kristaps Zarins’ painting always addresses the viewer with a form based on the reality – a figure, turn of the head, facial expression and body posture, richness of colors and artistic provocation.
The latest Kristaps Zarins’ paintings serie “Time. Space. Consciousness” brings us into a transcendental environment without the boundaries of time and space. Combining the characters of his paintings with elements from the works of world renowned artists, Kristaps Zariņš reveals the complex order of our world and its multi-layered content, documenting and analyzing the processes all around us. Numerous figures we can identify with are debating, exposing, tearing and provoking. The viewer is surviving one surreal event after another... (Ilze Zeivate)

„In the present day and age art for art's sake has disappeared. I believe art speaks and is created through dialogue, not monologue. The characters and imagery I depict from other artists' works function like letters that make up the words and text of my paintings. Painting techniques help breathe life into the text. An artist should endeavour to create a good comedy; in Plato's "Symposium" artists also competed with each other to write the best comedy. In my opinion, a good example to strive for would be Mozart's "The Magic Flute", which is a perfect balance of equal parts tragedy and comedy.
In the last two years, I have created fourteen paintings in which I have incorporated elements from the works of several world renowned artists and sculptors. Each separate element embodies the culture and world view of a particular artist, which I have absorbed and re-interpreted in my own artworks. I can recall being engulfed in art history since my earliest childhood years, and this experience has manifested itself in my compositions. In a way, I try to pass on the history of art through my paintings to the viewer.If Haruki Murakami can write about an artist, even though he is not one himself, then I can also endeavour to explain my works in text so viewers can better understand my thought process behind every piece”- Kristaps Zarins.

Kristaps Zarins has graduated from the Department of Painting of the Art Academy of Latvia (1986). Since 2017 he is the rector of the Art Academy of Latvia. The artist has organized more than 20 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows all over the world.
Kristaps Zarins works are in public collections – Latvian National Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), Collection of Artist's Union of Latvia (Riga, Latvia), Art Foundation Collection (Moscow, Russia), Collection of the Russian Ministry of Culture (Moscow, Russia), Collection of the Russian Art Academy (Moscow, Russia).