Līga Spunde & Aleksandrs Breže

The installation Last Harvest visually foreshadows the forthcoming winter. Inspired by the Soviet aesthetics of the MABOCA Gallery in Madona, Latvia, for which the work was initially conceived, the installation consists of grotesque characters and anthropomorphic vegetable sculptures, which over time have become a highly familiar image of fall and an example of an inventive imagination. The creatures, placed on a patch of land, set the scene of the space, becoming a self–contained visual performance that extends beyond the boundaries of the stage. The monstrous nature of the figures and the soundtrack conjure up an apocalyptic garden landscape, which, in an unobtrusive but visually unmistakable way, becomes the authors’ commentary on the global energy and food crises. Sound by Ivars Burtnieks.

installation; plywood, soil, paint, neon lights, sound, courtesy of the artists and the gallery MABOCA

Līga Spunde (b. 1990, Riga) makes multimedia installations where personal narratives are closely intertwined with carefully constructed fictions. The interpretation and use of recognisable characters serves as an extension of her personal experiences, while tapping into general truths and accepted tropes. As a rule, the content of the work determines the physical form of its conception, so a variety of media, techniques, and materials are used in her unique installations. Spunde’s work is present in public and private collections across Europe, and she was nominated for the national Latvian Purvītis Prize in both 2022 and 2020. The artist has shown in various solo and group exhibitions and art projects in Latvia and internationally, including A Panic Attack on a Sunny Day, (2023, Tuesday to Friday Gallery); Decolonial Ecologies, (2022, Riga Art Space); The Real Show, (2022, the CAC Brétigny); Being Safe Is Scary, Survival Kit 11 (2020, Latvian Center for Contemporary Art); When Hell Is Full, the Dead Will Walk the Earth (2019, Kim? Contemporary Art Centre); Melos (2019, Creative Art Space, Arsenāls, Latvian National Museum of Art); Champs-Élysées (2019, Gallery 427); and Free French Fries (2017, Gallery Komplot) among others.

Aleksandrs Breže (b. 1994) intricately weaves sculptural narratives reflecting memories fromhis upbringing and study years, most notably showcased in his debut solo exhibition Optimism-Confidence-Charity (2023, LOOK!, Riga). His art delves into the struggle for individuality amidst enforced conformity. Through abstract spatial installations, he explores the clash between written laws, religious values, and the harsh reality of institutional control. Mundane objects and religious symbols take on ominous significance, embodying his defiance of conservatism. Breže’s works – often exploring the mystical, the imagination, stories, and parallel realities – symbolise a quest for liberation from mental confinement and the scars left by oppressive environments. He has shown his works in various group exhibitions and projects including SUBFRAME.XYZ (2023, Brīvības 40, LV), Last Harvest (2022, MABOCA), Outdoors (2021, Savvaļa), Neizskaidrojami, bet fakts (2021, RMG).