“White Night” in floating art center “NOASS”

On 6 September, under the auspices of the “White Night” contemporary culture forum, several events will take place at the floating arts centre contemporary culture forum, “NOASS” on AB Dambis: Italian artist Grazia Toderi’s video installations “Atlante Rosso”, Australian artist Richard Denny’s solo exhibition, and the unveiling of Kristaps Ģelzis’ installation “Pulpit”, as well as the electronic music festival “Watercolours”.

The large-format video works of world-famous Italian artist Grazia Toderi are often compared to frescoes of light, in which she combines documentary frames showing nocturnal views of the city, obtained from military, satellite and cosmic night observation programmes. A participant at the 1993 and 2009 Venice Biennale, Toderi ‘visualises infinity’ in her works, using film and photographic materials that she has filmed herself. In the video installation “Atlante Rosso” (2011), Grazia Toderi combines several nocturnal views with cosmic images, as well as digital manipulation effects, in order to create the familiar and at the same time quite mystical urban nocturnal scenes, which remind one of the philosophical concept of “paradise” and “hell”.

  

Parallel to the première of Grazia Toderi’s video installation “Atlante Rosso”; after a 20 year break, the electronic music festival “Watercolours” will resound again. This year, the festival will be graced by the art/DJ group “Rasols”, in collaboration with one of the original driving forces behind Latvian graffiti, visual artist Krys, who in person, interpreting the diversity of music, will create a large-format illustration. Viewers will be able to follow this process on several screens installed at the floating arts centre “NOASS”, as well as to study video materials from the cinémathèque presented by VJ Wickiss and Gleb Sky.

Also participating in the festival will be: //DJ Bombey// Contour// Snobo// Selffish// La Fleur Du Soleil.

Another highlight will be “Pulpit”, a multimedia art object created by Purvītis Prize nominee Kristaps Ģelzis, which premièred in 2013 at an exhibition in the garden of Riga Cathedral. The installation, which was created in collaboration with composer Ģirts Bišs, is seven metres high and is crowned by a ventilator, thus symbolising the release of sins and the opportunity to secure redemption. Thus, “Pulpit” offers redemption to every visitor, with the confession of sins being conducted by mobile phone.

In turn, the Latvian Naïve Art Museum’s exhibition will be augmented by “Fragments of Territory”, a solo exhibition by renowned Australian artist Richard Denny. The artist has created vivid and expressive works inspired by primitive and naïve moods, combining acrylic paints, pencil and forms cut out from canvas.

 

The “White Night” programme of events with special lighting effects will be further augmented by the exhibition “Baltic Sea – Floating Trunks”, which will be illuminated in new colours on 6 September. The installation is a project created by the Swedish artists’ duo SIMKA, encouraging a collaboration between both European Capitals of Culture 2014: Riga and Umeå (Sweden), as well as Pori (Finland).

Event duration: 18:00 – 01:00.

For visitors, admission to all events is open and free of charge.