MAREUNROL'S solo exhibition "Fieldwork: Invisible exercises"

From 3 November to 29 December 2023, the exhibition “Fieldwork: Invisible exercises” by the contemporary fashion and art duo MAREUNROL'S will take place in the Great Hall of the Riga Art Space . This will be the most ambitious representation of the artists' visual works to date, in which art is highlighted as a sensory space - the means of visual expression, subject to the concept created by the artists, are the most powerful tools for conveying the truth. 

The exhibition consists of artworks in different media and the entire space is permeated by out-of-sync sound installations that seek to disrupt the harmony that otherwise exists between the works. The exhibition is conceptualised as a journey through several stages/ideas that symbolise MAREUNROL'S current visual practice - the two entrances to the environment created by the two artists mark the beginning of the cycle and the associated acceptance of choice; nature in contact with the turbulence of the urban environment creates a moving picture landscape in which the human is a sculptural work of art. Meditation on creation motivates us to contemplate the principles of truth and to seek the beautiful, but it can often lead to creative burnout. This is followed by elation, exhaustion, a yearning for the unknown. The exhibition is a visual diary of the artists' work, which makes us aware in the most direct way of the processuality of art making - the invisible exercises of mind and practice. The passage of light leads to the end, or the beginning of another cycle. Movement and further exercise are inevitable.

Exhibition curator: Auguste Petre

MAREUNROL'S (Mārīte Mastiņa - Pēterkopa and Rolands Pēterkops) are design boundary pushers and boundary breakers at the same time. Thinkers and storytellers who take clothing (fashion) beyond its usual functionality, using it as a thread to explore the world and the self. Their works are constructions of the mind, imagination and senses that, like sensitive antennae, pick up the vibrations of their time, deconstruct them, extract their essence and visualise them in the universal language of fashion. Thus constantly encouraging us to look at the world from a different perspective. They have participated in numerous international competitions and festivals, biennials and group exhibitions outside Latvia. Including the 12th Prague Quadrennial and the travelling exhibition "ARRRGH! Monsters in Fashion" at the Benaki Museum in Athens and La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris, Riga International Art Biennale (RIBOCA 2). The duo won two top prizes at the 24th International Hyères Fashion and Photography Festival. In 2016, they were among the ten European nominees for the prestigious international Woolmark Fashion Award. In 2019, they published a book as a visual pictorial look back at MAREUNROL'S most striking works. The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga presented a retrospective exhibition of MAREUNROL'S works, which became the most visited exhibition of 2019 at the Museum and was nominated for the Latvian Public Media Annual Award in Culture “A Kilogram of Culture” as the Best Visual Art Exhibition of 2019. 

Auguste Petre is an independent curator and producer. She holds a Master's degree in Art History and Curatorial Studies from the Art Academy of Latvia and since 2021 has been studying in the PhD programme at the Latvian Academy of Culture. A. Petre's interests are mainly characterised by the collaboration between art and the social context, as well as the expressions of Latvian artists born in the 1990s. A. Petre has curated more than 20 contemporary art exhibitions with the participation of international artists, she is also the author of several exhibition concepts and accompanying texts, she has been the programme director of the Riga’s Smallest Gallery and is the co-author of the Riga’s Smallest Auctions series. 2023, she created the SEB Global Services contemporary art collection. Co-founder of ASNI art society. Since 2017 she has been working as an art journalist, regularly contributing to Latvian and international media, including as the Baltic Editor at Arterritory.com. The author of several scientific publications, Auguste has been working as a guest lecturer at the Latvian Academy of Culture and the Art Academy of Latvia since 2021.

The exhibition is organised by the Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council Riga Art Space Exhibition Hall, supported by Riga City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation, VV Foundation, Latvijas Finieris, LMT, DHL, Tet, Steel Tech, Sixt, Vulcana.

Photo: Pēteris Rūcis