The eighties. Latvia. Poster art. Those Latvian people who have experienced this period in the art world know well that the subject of posters must be looked at in a special way. The poster of the 80s was a special way for artists to express their thirst for greater personal creative freedom. This time was complex and multifaceted, and this was also reflected in the cultural posters. Their visual diversity and ability to engage the viewer both emotionally and intellectually made these posters important witnesses of history and a form of artistic expression in the cultural scene of Latvia.
In the art of posters, especially cultural posters, there was much more opportunity to express one's creative thought without censorship. They could contain signs, subtexts, signals that indicated much higher desires for freedom.
The poster genre was at the vanguard of pre-Renaissance art. A large number of leading and powerful Latvian artists turned to poster art at that time precisely for the reasons mentioned above.
Ola Foundation created this exhibition with true reverence and great respect, offering the audience an outstanding pre-Renaissance artist: Laimonis Šönberg, Gunārs Kirke, Ilmar Blumberg, Andras Breže, Franceska Kirke, Georg Smelter, Jura Dimiter, Gunar Luš, Jura Putrām, Georg Smelter, Gunār Zemgal and Ivar A selection of cultural posters created by Mailīš from the archives of the Latvian National Art Museum.
We hope that the exhibition will allow visitors to better understand and experience this particularly complex pre-Renaissance period and the possibilities of creative expression in the poster art genre.
For us, it seems to be a vitally important stopping point in Latvia's independence efforts.
Many thanks to the director of the Latvian National Art Museum, Māra Lāce, for the responsiveness to the use of the museum's fund materials, and to the art scholar Ramona Umblija, for the informative support provided in the creation of this exhibition.
Exhibition curators: OIa Foundation founders Ilze and Uldis Pīlēni
Author of the graphic design of the exhibition: Sandija Šēnberga
The exhibition can be viewed: from August 30 of this year to January 30, 2024
