Exhibitions Lasting a Quarter of a Century: The Leading 'Russian-speaking' Gallery Celebrates Its Anniversary 0 11

Spring on Canvas

The significance of this gallery is hard to overestimate, especially today, when it is perhaps the only art venue in the Latvian capital that periodically showcases paintings by artists - most of whom are now considered to be from 'national minorities'.

The gallery is charitable, and entry is free. The newly opened large spring exhibition of visual arts is particularly popular among both viewers and the artists themselves. Artists, feeling the arrival of spring, are eager to showcase their new works.

Thus, over a hundred paintings of various themes and styles by artists from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan are presented across three floors.

Among them are many well-known names - the master of urban sketches and portraits Edgar Mikelson; Georgian artist Nugzar Paksadze, who lives in Latvia; Alena Savyuk; and the master of ebru (a special Eastern genre of painting on water) Irina Trumpel.

Mathematics in Painting

We should particularly highlight Babken Stepanyan, who works in a unique technique of structural collage - it is said that only three people in the world work this way today, and one of them is indeed Babken Stepanyan. He calls his style "visual-mathematical conceptualism".

By the way, Mr. Stepanyan's works can currently be seen in the fireplace hall of the Association of National Cultural Societies named after Ita Kozakevich on Slokas Street, and entry is also free.

The paintings of Vladimir Pavlov stand out brightly. By education, he is a mathematician. However, he later completed his studies at the Latvian Academy of Arts (he entered the department of artistic design and construction in 1974 and graduated in 1981). He has been participating in exhibitions since 1977 and is a member of various artistic associations. He is also known as an organizer of various art exhibitions within the group "Free Art". He works in the directions of romantic symbolism and op-art.

The exhibition is further complemented by the artistic works of photographers Vladimir Starkov, Julia Shved, and Georgy Alexikov. Additionally, Mr. Alexikov recently opened a large personal exhibition dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of his creative activity - in the small gallery that opened a year ago in room 116 on the first floor of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Latvia (entry here is also free).

Gallery Owner and Artist

"We are pleased with the growing popularity of our student gallery," noted its permanent curator, member of the Union of Artists of Latvia Valentin Danilenko, while opening the exhibition. "In our gallery, we know how to kindly appreciate the creativity of both recognized masters and newcomers. This is evidenced by the awarding of diplomas to previous laureates of the exhibition. They have become already well-known artists such as Nadezhda Kolesnikova, Gitana Kaltemene, and eight-year-old Aisha Abduyeva, a true discovery of our student gallery. The exhibition is located in the BMA building at Lomonosova Street, 1/4 and will last until May 8. It is open during the academy's working hours. Entry for BMA guests is free."

Mr. Danilenko's powerful abstract works also deserve special mention. It is probably hard to find an artist in Latvia who does not know the curator of the BiArt gallery, Valentin Nikolayevich Danilenko. And it is not hard to understand why. He has organized and conducted a good three hundred various art exhibitions, introducing dozens of artists to the wider public. He was recently congratulated on a significant anniversary - he turned 70 in December.

But today it is quite appropriate to remind that he is also a magnificent artist, whose works have been successfully exhibited in Tallinn, Karaganda, Kazan, Rostov, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and other cities and countries. He graduated from the Latvian Academy of Arts and taught drawing and composition at the academy.

A Promoter in the World of Arts

But the main focus of his multifaceted activity, I believe, is still the BiArt gallery. This is where he dedicates the lion's share of his energy and time.

This is also agreed upon by the well-known artist and frequent participant in art exhibitions at BMA Nikolai Krivoshein. By the way, Nikolai attended the famous art studio of Abram Zinovievich Bykov in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the studio of the legendary Vitaly Borisovich Karkunov. He entered the Latvian Academy of Arts in 1993 and graduated in 1999. His teachers were leading artists of Latvia: Uno Danilevskis, Edvards Grube, Janis Zemitis, Imants Vecozols. He defended his bachelor's thesis under Vilis Ozols and Imants Vecozols. The supervisors of his diploma work were Kaspars Zarins and Alexey Naumov.

"He is a true selfless promoter in the world of visual arts, a worthy successor to Svetlana Haenko," says Nikolai Alekseevich about Danilenko. "It is easy to work with him. He has no favorites. He is a professional and easily finds common ground with the most diverse artists. He does not shy away from any work. If necessary, he temporarily becomes a carpenter or a glazier."

Help Will Come – Both Student and Rector

Valentin indeed continues the work of Svetlana Haenko excellently, the outstanding art historian who passed away a few years ago. During her 72 years of life, Svetlana became the organizer of dozens of exhibitions at BMA, the author of hundreds of articles, as well as brochures, monographs, and albums on art dedicated to several of the most famous Latvian artists.

She opened many names in contemporary visual art in Latvia. She was one of the first to become a citizen of the Republic of Latvia for special merits. In recent years, she worked as an associate professor at the Baltic International Academy, and she left behind students.

And when Danilenko is asked how he manages to sometimes organize two or three exhibitions in a month, he simply explains: "Artists, students, and teachers help. And the chairman of the academy's Senate, Stanislav Buka, always supports my initiatives."