Protest and dissatisfaction – those are words which can describe the current mood of people in many countries of the world.  The foundation for this is the economic crisis and its consequences, or perhaps the things which political regimes have done.  Citizens are going out in the streets to protest, while for “naughty” artists, protests are an everyday thing.  Artists inherited the countercultural traditions of youth culture in the 1960s, and during periods of peace and welfare, they still perform the role of oppositionists.  That’s because the outstanding sensitivity of artists forces them to react actively to that which is occurring around them, presenting that reaction in their art.  Reciprocal links with society are important for artists.  Often this means exaggerated forms of expression or screaming images and topics that are aimed at creating a counter-reaction.

Challenges that are created by artists undeniably relate to public expectations and the readiness of audiences to accept the represented artwork, thus touching upon two malleable sizes which become modified during the course of time.  Natural interaction between a society and its artists is possible only in a democratic system, because under conditions of totalitarianism and authoritarianism, free expression can lead to repressions.  This fact determined the chronological boundaries of this exhibition, starting with the latter half of the 1980s, when official censorship in Soviet Latvia began to ease up, and ending with the present day.

The title of the exhibition, “The Naughty Ones”, conjures up images of naughty children, not forgetting about the element of a “game.”  Most of the artists are young people, because mature people seldom continue to challenge society.

The final level of the challenge – the provocation – is related to the public media and civil activity, reacting to some topical problems of the time. During the 1980s and 1990s, Oļegs Tillbergs produced artworks involving dead animals, and that did not create any fuss at that time.  By comparison, Kristians Brekte created a series of photographs twenty years later which featured the death of animals under the title “The Morgue.”  This created a certain counter-reaction, with some people denouncing the art and one person spitting on the windows of the relevant gallery.  This situation can be attributed to a change in the meaning of animals, with people beginning to implement defence of justice.

Because of the temporary nature of provocations, this exhibition is based on the sense of a challenge in a broader understanding, the choice relating to courageous Latvian artists who purposefully focus on “uncomfortable” or “unpleasant” topics.

The challenges can be divided up into two groups – formal ones and content-based ones.  In both cases, the challenge is modified in accordance with human development and understanding of art, with a radical shift in this process during the 20^th century.  The birth of the avant-garde movement created contemporary art that was largely based on opposition which, in most cases, was expressed via a denial of past artistic practices and systems of images.  The formal challenge, as a result, is present in nearly every exhibition of contemporary art, so the “Naughty Ones” exhibition emphasises content.  The purposefully primitive paintings of Aija Zariņa, the pile of manure produced by Oļegs Tillbergs, Kristaps Ģelzis` gracious fences, the chair of Gints Gabrāns, and the purposefully incorrect photographs of Arnis Balčus with their unaccustomed form enraged not just ordinary viewers, but also a few conservative specialists.

The content-based challenge is based on areas in which it is important to maintain control – political and religious power, cultural heritage, ethical norms and sexuality.  If society is to live in harmony, it is only natural to establish various written and unwritten laws which punish violators.  No system is ideal, however.  Sometimes an audit of the existing system must be conducted to get rid of that which is false, for instance.  It is artists who most often conduct this “audit.”

When we look at the message of these artworks, we can divide the “naughty ones” into several groups in a conditional sense.  There are hooligans whose aim is to shock viewers and to create a counter-reaction.  The most vivid hooligans are Gints Gabrāns, Ivars Grāvlejs, Miķelis Fišers, Ernests Kļaviņš, Maija Kurševa and Leonards Laganovskis.  The social critics who are Kristians Brekte, Vladislavs Lakše, Kārlis Vītols, Ivars Poikāns and Juris Utāns use a provocative system of images to cause discomfort among viewers.  Often this involves a noble goal of one type or another.  Ēriks Apaļais, Sergejs Djomins and Otto Zitmanis lock themselves up into a kingdom in which painting is rather therapeutic, with expressive language and neurotic types which take on the strength of a challenge.  Gints Apsīts represent the subconscious world of images – one which sometimes encounters that which is real, creating peculiar and naughty combinations.  Provocateurs who engage in imagery use permitted artistic techniques such as allegories and symbols, but the content of their message and the context in which their art is created mean that the art is challenging.  This applies to Andris Breže, Andrejs Kalnačs, Normunds Lācis, the NSRD group, Jānis Mitrēvics, Juris and Vilnis Putrāms, Māris Subačs and Oļegs Tillbergs.

The exhibition is arranged in thematic blocs which are introduced by self-irony as confirmation of the fact that the critique of the naughty ones is focused not just on society, but also on the creator of art.  This is a disarming gesture.  Next there is a challenge against the governing elite, starting with critique of the images of the Soviet regime and ending with independent Latvia.  The church is denounced because of its paedophilia scandals and religious conflicts.  After passing through the “sacrilegious chamber” of canonised cultural values, the viewer enters the “kingdom” of dead animals and is stopped by a pure provocation.  The exhibition concludes with the broadly represented theme of sexuality.

The origins of the phenomenon of “naughty ones” can be found in the theatrical performances of Ancient Greece, and this remains of importance today.  Apparent destruction masks the Dionysian strength of art.  After destruction, values are reweighed or reborn, or there is a regional tension which emerges between that which is “banned” and that which is “permitted.”

Sniedze Kāle
Curator of the exhibition

Negantnieki_LNMM_2012.doc

LNMM_SarMuz_Negantnieki_150712.doc