Pop/off/art gallery is honoured to present an exhibition of works by Andris Eglitis, turning into the artist’s first solo show in Russia. Eglitis is recognised as a prominent figure amongst the young generation of Latvian artists, recently commissioned to create work for the Latvian National pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2015. The artist, celebrated for his installations comprising paintings and objects, will exhibit works from the recent years, major part of which were made specially for the Moscow debut.

Andris Eglitis is an artist whose paintings make a direct emotional appeal. Realistic, yet deprived of a narrative, they are filled with remarkable depth of an image, leading a viewer all the way to the classical grand narratives from what seems like a regular landscape, still life or an everyday scene. A physical dimension of Eglitis’ works is derived from philosophical dichotomy of artificial and organic. In the words of the artist painting stands for “creation of an illusory space, that is connected to reality and yet is secluded from it”. Through the images of installations and objects mounted beforehand, Andris Eglitis constructs both a physical space and a space within a canvas, blurring the line between mediums. To the artist painting is a bridge between the mind and the matter, it fits into spaces while preserving individual message of the artist.

Eglitis was born in Riga in 1981. He studied at Janis Rozentals Riga Art High school (1992-1999), then received a degree in Fine Art from Art Academy of Lativa (1999-2005), also studied at Manchester Metropolitan University (2002), Ilya Repin Saint Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (2004), and Higher Institute of Fine Arts (Gent, Belgium, 2012-2013). He was awarded a Purvitis Prize (2013) and an Autumn Exhibition prize (2002, 2007). In 2015 Eglitis was commissioned to work on the Latvian National pavilion at 56th Venice Biennale. His works are included in collections of Latvian National Museum of Art, Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art in Riga, that is currently under construction, and private collections in Latvia and worldwide.