Guntis Lauders solo exhibition TWO BIRDS AND A BLACK TREE
Guntis Lauders solo exhibition “THREE BIRDS AND A BLACK TREE” at APSĪDA Gallery
On August 9 this year, the solo exhibition of Latvian jewelry artist Guntas Lauders “TWO BIRDS AND A BLACK TREE” was opened in the Tallinn art gallery A-Galerii, which will be on view until September 6. From Estonia the exposition will travel to Riga, to the gallery Apsīda, where it will be on display from September 11 to October 23.
This exhibition is like a wonderful journey to rediscover our close connection with nature through the richness and beauty of materials. The artist admits: “Nature is my inspiration and one of my greatest teachers. In order to create something, I need to be in the silence of nature from time to time. Being there, I can access the thoughts and feelings that are deep within me – and the more I look, the more I see… I feel like a lot of people have lost touch with the natural world. I invite them to return to their roots through my jewelry.” At the exhibition, viewers will be able to see the jewelry created by the artist, as well as a symbolic black, as if burnt tree, which embodies the harsh and sad situation in the world at the moment, but the brooches with the images of two birds in turn indicate to faith and hope that everything will end well. At the exhibition in Riga, these birds will be joined by a third one, symbolizing love and together forming the ancient trinity – faith, hope, love.
For Guntis Lauders, it is important to use materials that are durable and sustainable, whose value and aesthetics will not be lost over time. His creations include rings, brooches, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. the jewelry is based on silver, gold, precious stones, amber, fossils, mammoth tusk, coconut shell, coral and pearl, mahogany and ebony, joined and developed using classic jewelry techniques.
The artist creates a solo exhibition every five years as a certain reference point of his work (the previous ones – “Garden of Eden”,2020, Apsīda gallery, “Ladies’ paradise”, 2015, and “Zudušo galmu meklējot”, 2010, both in Putti gallery), for which new groups of jewlry are made. The chosen names of the exhibitions are also not random, but reflect the pursuit of elegance, sophistication, which is closely intertwined with an interest in natural forms, fine details and textures, as well as what is happening in the world. It is important to mention that in May of this year the artist had an exhibition in New York, at the Museum of Art and Design.
About the artist:
Guntis Lauders (1965) graduated from the Metal Design Department of the Tallinn University of Arts (1992) and obtained a master’s degree from the Latvian Academy of Arts (2005). Since 1993, he has held solo exhibitions in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, the Nordic countries, the USA, as well as participated in many internationally and locally significant group exhibitions in Latvia, Europe, America, Russia, Japan. The jewelry created by him is in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga, the Kaliningrad Amber Museum in Russia, as well as in many private collections around the world, the most important of which is the “Thierry-de-Saint Rapt” collection in France.
Text: Ieva Kalnača