The exhibition of Sandra Strēle’s paintings in the TC Galerija Centrs art exhibition hall combines paintings from different periods of the artist’s creative activity, including large-format paintings from such series as “MELANHOLIJA”, “NOSTALGIJA” and “Unexhibited Exhibitions”.

In the series of paintings “MELANHOLIJA”, the author focuses on the creation of closed, alienated, sometimes lonely places confirming life, their architecture and fictional everyday scenes, offering the viewer the role of an observer. It is the loneliness and everyday life in the paintings that provokes a melancholy mood, encouraging the viewer to look for logical, visual elements in the paintings that confirm the melancholy.

The series of paintings – the installation “NOSTALGIA” was created as a continuation of the series “MELANHOLIA”, visually and conceptually interpreting and depicting various aspects, explanations and meanings of the term “nostalgia”. For example, in the 17th century, nostalgia – longing for home – was thought to be a treatable physical illness, whereas later nostalgia became a problem for philosophers and poets, turning physical illness into an emotional weakness and a philosophical stimulant. In the 20th century, nostalgia for the past became unnecessary around the world, driven by a belief in technological innovation (modernity), progress and a bright future.

The series of paintings “Uncommon Exhibitions” focuses on the research and analysis of various exhibition creation practices. During their creative life, each artist has the opportunity to create a certain number of solo exhibitions and participate in a specific number of group exhibitions or other events. Many of his or her ideas remain unrealized over time for a variety of reasons – lack of time, lack of exhibition space, lack of funding, and so on. It often happens that good ideas remain unrealized, which no one in a museum or gallery will see. Most artists also have to balance their entire creative life between ambitious ideas and down-to-earth opportunities to implement them. This problem can also be read very well in the current situation, when the whole world has been hit by the covid-19 pandemic and a large part of artistic and cultural events in general do not take place and are canceled for an unknown period of time. For this reason, and not only in the series of paintings “Unexposed Exhibitions”, Sandra Strēle focuses on the visualization of various art exhibitions.

The exhibition is open from March 28, 2022 to June 15, 2022 every day in the art gallery of the shopping center “Galerija Centrs” on the 3rd floor.

The curators of the exhibition are the group of artists “Butterman” – Santa Matule, Ineta Urtāne, Simona Veilande and Renāte Vītola.