Showroom: Sweat and Dust

At our 2024 summer showroom Sweat and Dust we will present selected artworks for sale from artists Maria Kapajeva, Karel Koplimets, Paul Kuimet, Dzelde Mierkalne, Laura Põld and Sabīne Vernere.

The chosen works introduce the mood of those late summer days when the air has become a perpetual steamy substance fluctuating between heat and sandy dust, and every living body’s exterior drips with sweat as they slowly melt together while their interiors have already transformed into spicy dunes. The asphalt and metal scaffolding in the cities emanate oily steam that creates mirage-like airwaves while the soundscape of the heat-exhausted landscape hums with electricity. All seem to be suffering heatstroke, living somewhere between constant exhaustion and meltdown while at the same time drinking it in as a delirium-imbued elixir that compels them to dance the night away. 

This August, the summer fever will saturate the showroom as it introduces both emerging and established artists from the Baltics: Paul Kuimet’s photos capture found sculptural situations in city exteriors while Maria Kapajeva’s photo collages remaster sexualised representations of women’s bodies into playful wallpaper. Sabīne Vernere’s ink paintings depict bodies that are seemingly entangled with but also empowered by their metal shelves, Laura Põld’s earthy ceramic sculptures melt the dichotomy of the archaic and the contemporary and Karel Koplimets’s video installation and photos simultaneously observe the obsession with car culture and address the pollution of the environment. In the midst of it all, one will find young up-and-coming artist Dzelde Mierkalne’s etching depicting a mouse-like character sunbathing in this absurd and just a little bit doomed world.