20.09. - 24.09.2017

Marx Halle

Karl-Farkas-Gasse 19, 1030 Vīne, Austrija

Maksla XO gallery at VIENNACONTEMPORARY 2017

Paulis Liepa solo show - "What is this time?"

STAND - E 24

Paulis Liepa (1978) is a Latvian new generation graphic artist, who works with the most basic graphic techniques – collography and cardboard cut.
As experts and critics of modern and contemporary art point out, the works of Paulis Liepa are outstanding from the mainstream, with their sign language that visually echoes the oeuvre of Russian (Latvian) constructivist Gustavs Klucis and in modernism based aesthetics.
Paulis Liepa, participating in exhibitions since 1996, already has become a well-known figure in the world of graphic artists of the Baltic region. He has organized 12 solo exhibitions un received numerous awards – Grand Prix at the 9th Biennial of Graphics of the Baltic Sea Countries “Kaliningrad – Konigsberg 2008” (2008), awarded at the “International Print Triennial – Krakow 2017”, as well as prize laureate at “Grafika-S”.

The aesthetics of Paulis Liepa’s works have evolved from various influences of the modernist graphic culture of the 20th century - design, architecture and engineering blueprints, especially looking back at the visual aesthetics of the 60’s and 70’s, which the artist uses as his language of expression. To amplify this effect of “oldness”, Paulis Liepa exposes his work to direct environmental influences – coagulated layers of glue, cardboard pieces scratched with knife, layers of paint, one over another, creating a sense that the works have come from 60’s or 70’s, have been abandoned and forgotten somewhere and rediscovered today. With subtle irony about graphic artists’ obsession with perfect and aestheticized image, works of Paulis Liepa “overstep” this occupational etiquette. He’s not interested in editions of his works – it can only be two author proofs to maximum 7 exemplars, each of which will be different and unique.

Paulis Liepa, using seemingly neutral and unpretentious units, reflects on philosophical and current events in a wide range – starting from recent war collision points to simple everyday items and topics, which generally is a diary by the artist as a modern human: studio, home, street, Internet, news, advertisement…
This message is not chatty, it’s straightforward, clear, ironic and hearty at the same time, just as Paulis Liepa is in a conversation, everyday life and as a pedagogue at the Art Academy of Latvia, hiding within himself many layers as does his works.
In works of Paulis Liepa, we can distinguish only one subtle sign to a whole collection of signs, which conceptually and in their content are a search for the truth, a battle for spheres of influences, a control over geographical units, depths of the earth from their cross –sections, a cynical, cold calculation, and the humanity as an infinitely complex mechanism, where the war, unfortunately, is an integral part of its existence.
Artists must response. Only then he can be actual, in period, if he shows ambiance with what he is in touch, thinks about.
                                                                                                                    Ilze Zeivate.

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