An Exhibition of Works by Maris Ernest Uldrikis 'Subtle Matters' Opened at the Mentzendorff House 0 5

"For Uldrikis, the world of things is secondary and depends on the world of ideas. The picture of the world he creates is a subtle matter, crafted with intimacy and delicacy, which is characteristic of the artist's creative style. The idea is right next to the matter, and it needs to be uncovered! ...What is the golden key that opens the door to Uldrikis's creativity? How can one describe the special charm of the artist's works? It is the subtlety, the intellect that underlies a quiet, very personal, and deeply engaged conversation with the world, with faces, with things. It is a dive into a beam of light, a reflection of colors, in which the artist does not demonstrate the generosity of colors and lines for a moment; on the contrary, he captures only the essential, the necessary, the most characteristic... Therefore, pay closer attention to the works of art, and all the subtlety and the entire world of Maris Uldrikis will be revealed to you," invites the researcher of the artist's work, Astrida Rogule.

Maris Ernest Uldrikis was born into the family of artist Theodor Uldrikis. In 1958, he graduated with honors from the decorative arts department of the Liepaja Secondary School of Applied Arts, but due to health reasons, he could not complete his brilliantly started studies at the painting faculty of the Latvian Academy of Arts. Since 1970, his works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Riga, Liepaja, Kronstadt, and St. Petersburg. The artist also participated in the visual design of several poetry collections, illustrating the poetry collections of his sister – singer, composer, and poet – Aina Uldrikis. Artist Aldis Klavins described Maris Uldrikis as "a talented servant of art, who was always in the creative process."

"The uniqueness and immediacy of Uldrikis's artistic language create a separate dimension, a separate world characterized by particularly concentrated and absolute immersion in the meaning and process of creating a work of art. For Maris Uldrikis, painting and graphics were akin to breathing, to life. This was the only life he knew, and he knew it brilliantly. Art shaped his world. The works of Maris Uldrikis belong not only to his world but also to the world of his comrades and friends, and for several years now, to my world as well. Thanks to the artist's friend and patron Irina Tire, I discovered a whole universe created by Uldrikis," says art historian Astrida Rogule.

The artworks of Maris Ernest Uldrikis are held in the collections of the Liepaja Museum, the State Museum of St. Petersburg, as well as in private collections. Artist Alexander Nekrasov, head of the "Tsarskoye Selo Collection" of the State Museum of St. Petersburg, a great admirer of Uldrikis's talent, considers him one of the "highest-level artists in contemporary Europe."

Uldrikis did not give titles to his works and did not indicate the time of their creation. Therefore, the time of creation of the works encompasses the entire life of the artist, but when looking at his works, everyone can express their own creative freedom and evoke their own associations regarding the meaning embedded in them.