27.07. - 26.08.2023

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

ILMARS BLUMBERGS

Servant

From July 27 to August 26, Maksla XO Gallery invites you to see the exhibition „Servant” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of - Ilmars Blumbergs ˗ an exhibition about the image of the symbolic SERVANT, which has become the most recognizable sign of Ilmars Blumbergs.

„It came about in the autumn of 1993 while I was working on a group of works called “Signs”. I do not have an exhaustive explanation, but I intuitively feel part of me is within it. I draw it, but adding the content is up to you. Everything I think or don’t think about shouldn’t and couldn’t be explained. Yes, sometimes it is a Servant figure. Sometimes it looks like a Gentleman – an admirer of Nature. This way and that way. The strong and the weak.
An ambivalent figure. Worshiper/Devotee and Admirer at once. A power spring holder before the moment of explosion or an empty shell collector by the sea. Maybe a player of doubts in the sand?
Sometimes I think it is me when I leave the studio at the end of a working day. I slightly bow and quietly say, “Thank you”. I don’t know to whom. To That. Yes, whom is it worth serving? My dear, life is worth living! That's what the exhibition is about” - Ilmars Blumbergs in an interview with Anita Vanaga.

Ilmars Blumbergs’ art is the search for universal human truths, questions and answers to our existence on Earth. Man is searching for eternal peace, which first of all must be found within himself, only then transferred to family, society and country. He stated that his artworks’ main subjects are LOVE, DEATH and GOD.
Ilmars Blumbergs (1943˗2016) graduated from the Painting department of the Art Academy of Latvia (1963˗1972). He has been exhibiting his works regularly since 1962, has held over 40 solo exhibitions, and has participated in more than 150 group shows in Latvia and abroad. He has also created stage and costume designs for numerous theatres and Latvian National Opera productions. Book illustrator. And the author of many well-known graphic signs in the cultural space of Latvia. Ilmars Blumbergs has received 31 awards and nominations in his lifetime. In 1995 he was awarded the honorary Order of the Three Stars ˗ an order awarded for merits in service for Latvia. In 2009 he received the Lifetime Contributions Award at the annual theatre awards ceremony “Night of the Actors”. Among Ilmars Blumbergs’ last notable projects must be mentioned his solo exhibition “A Prayer for Seeing (The Drawings are in the Box)” (2005) at Oratorio di San Ludovico in Venice, Italy; “The Rain is falling! The Rain is falling! Buy some pictures! Life, Works and Death of Voldemars Irbe” (2009), as a part of 3rd Drawing Triennale of Tallinn at Kunstihoone Galleri in Tallinn, Estonia and “I Won't Die” and “I Won't Die at Ilze's” (2013) 70th-anniversary exhibitions at the Latvian National Museum of Art, Exhibition Hall Arsenals and Maksla XO Gallery in Riga, Latvia. In 2001 his and Viesturs Kairiss’ joint project film “Magic Flute” presented Latvia in the 49th Venice Biennial (2001). Noteworthy stage design productions of Blumbergs at Latvian National Opera are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Magic Flute” (2001), Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida” (1998) and Rainis’ and “Joseph and His Brothers” (1981) at Dailes Theatre.
His works can be found in private and public collections all around the world: Latvian National Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), Theater Museum (Riga, Latvia), Rainis Museum of Literature and Art History (Riga, Latvia), Mikolajus Konstantinas Ciurlionis Art Museum (Kaunas, Lithuania), Tartu Art Museum (Tartu, Estonia), Pori Art Museum (Pori, Finland), Bochum Museum of Art (Bochum, Germany), Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg, Germany), City Museum (Chamaliere, France ), Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia), State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia), A.Bakhrushin Theater Museum (Moscow, Russia), National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia).

More:

https://ltv.lsm.lv/lv/raksts/27.07.2023-ilmaram-blumbergam-velta-izstadi-kalpotajs.id300821