25.04. -28.04.2019

Deutsche Telekom Hauptstadtrepräsentanz

Französische strasse 33 a-c, 10117 Berlin

Maksla XO Gallery presents
at PAPER POSITIONS Berlin 2019

Stends  Nr. 19

www.paperpositions.com/en/berlin/

At Paper Positions Berlin 2019, Maksla XO gallery is going to present the works of two Latvian contemporary artists – paintress Helena Heinrihsone and graphic artist Paulis Liepa.

Helena Heinrihsone (1948) is one of the most versatile artists in Latvian art, who works not only in painting, but also in watercolour, lithography, photography, porcelain painting and animation. Her works have always stood out among her own generation with their daring nature – they were considered to be too exposed, too daring, too lively in colours, too expressive.
Helena Heinrihsone has always emphasised the essence of content through the purity of colour and form. Her fascination with roses is well-known and their place in her body of work has had a significant role throughout the years. Some critics have even named her “the Rose Painter”, or Helena the Rose. But for her, the rose is not just a symbol of beauty, it expresses her sharp existential feeling. By playing with the scale of objects, paradoxically the painter has come closer to their beauty, where the exaggerated pathos of the symbolic meanings of flowers has vanished, confronting the viewers with the essence of watercolour painting itself.
In the 1990s, Helena Heinrihsone created a large series of paintings dedicated to roses and Meissen porcelain, where she studied its vast world of characters. Now, she has returned to the famous Meissen porcelain, which appears in her latest watercolours that will be displayed at Paper Positions Berlin as well.
Helena Heinrihsone has graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia (1973).  Her works are in public collections - Latvian National Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), Museum Ludwig (Köln, Germany), State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia), Zimmerly Art Museum (New Jersey, USA), Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NY, USA).

Paulis Liepa (1978) currently is one of the most well-known Latvian graphic artist with a vivid and recognizable individual style. He works with the most basic graphic techniques – collography and cardboard cut. Alongside graphics Paulis Liepa works in book design, illustrations and animation.
His distinct visual style has evolved from various modernist influences, especially the aesthetics of the 60’s and 70’s. 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 of „historical authenticity”. 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 5 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…
Paulis Liepa graduated from the Graphic Department of the Art Academy of Latvia (1997-2003). Since 1996 he has arranged 13 solo exhibitions in Latvia, Estonia, Denmark and Russia, and has participated in 40 group exhibitions – both in Latvia and abroad. He has received significant awards, among them – Grand Prix at the print exhibitions Grafika-S (2014), Statutory Award of “International Print Triennial – Krakow” (2012), Grand Prix of 9th Biennial of Graphics of the Baltic Sea Countries “Kaliningrad-Koenigsberg” (2008).
Paulis Liepa works are in public collections – Latvian National Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), the future Latvian Contemporary Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), Art Collection Deutsche Telekom (Berlin, Germany), KAI|10 Arthena Foundation (Dusseldorf, Germany), Simmons Contemporary (London, UK), Kaliningrad State Art Gallery (Kaliningrad, Russia).

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