11.12.2025. - 24.01.2026

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

HELĒNA HEINRIHSONE

Oh My God, It’s So Beautiful!

Helēna Heinrihsone is one of the key figures in contemporary Latvian painting. A committed modernist, she relentlessly seeks to discover a new and modern mode of representation rooted in the freedom of individual expression. She paints as though ahead of time – depicting what has not yet happened, what the artist herself has only intuited. The ROSE stands at the centre of Helēna Heinrihsone’s paintings. For many years, it has played a significant role throughout her oeuvre. It is not merely a symbol of beauty. The ROSE, together with Helēna Heinrihsone’s distinctive colour combinations, embodies alongside stories of endless relationships, from which emerge the narratives of feelings and emotions.

Oh My God, It’s So Beautiful! Is there irony in this title? Are the roses themselves an irony?
Yes, of course! But the exhibition is not only about roses; it is about human freedom. Everyone who paints wants to be free, and it is rare to achieve that. In this case, roses and irony serve as a means of my liberation. A motif.

What is ironic in this exhibition?
Colour and form. The exaggerated beauty attributed to roses. The concept itself. The rose as a designation of beauty. Everything exaggerated becomes ironic. And if you exaggerate, it is better to do so with irony rather than with hatred or aggression. Irony prevents you from attacking with colour and form.

Does irony restrain you?
Yes. And it ensures that perception is not so unambiguous. Irony helps one to remain ambiguous. Oneself and the work.

Which colour do you find the most ironic?
I would say that, in this case, the most ironic is yellow. At first, I wanted to say violet, but now I already have two violet roses. At the moment, I am working on a third yellow one, so that feels the most ironic. But white, of course, stands above all. If a person wants to ruin himself, he paints a white rose.

You are also working on a white rose. Are you challenging yourself?
I hope I manage to get through it! (laughs) I feel as though everything is already clear to me, but I still don’t know how it will turn out…

Do the new roses differ from your previously painted roses?
They differ not only from my first roses, but also from those I painted a year ago. I have “pulled” them out of a background of related colours and, in a sense, laid them bare against a neutral background. A long time ago, I also painted black backgrounds, which are unmistakable. This time, the backgrounds are quite neutral, almost “colourless”. For each rose they vary slightly, yet they are perceived as though all the backgrounds share the same paleness. In the new paintings, the relationship between figure and background is firmly established. Previously, I wanted to blur this distinction – as if the figure were melting into the background. Now, I have brought the figure of the rose to the forefront.

Is there a direct model for each new rose, as always?
Yes. They come from my garden as well as yours. From the timeless rose books that one can leaf through hundreds of times, without exaggeration. When the need arises, you simply find the one that speaks to you. You leaf through, and that’s all – and then comes the page in the book that was meant for you!

In the new exhibition, one work from an earlier period will be displayed – “Roses in Snow”. It is more sad than joyful.
Through the sadness, I rejoice. This work was painted from nature – truly so. A snowstorm and a strong wind from the sea, and right beside them wonderful young buds and blossoming flowers. If you want to bloom, then bloom!

Is the fact that the exhibition takes place before Christmas also an irony?
A beautiful coincidence.

Are you happy?
I am surprised. I accepted the challenge and I did it! I have conquered the challenge! I have decided that from now on I will paint like men do: purposefully, without delighting in it. I will control myself and not allow dreaming, admiration, or laziness to pull me away from the working process. I will simply do my work. At the moment, I wake up at 7 a.m., and by 9 a.m. I am already standing in front of the canvas. I want to make use of my exceptionally extensive experience in both work and the study of roses, and simply paint!
/A conversation between Ilze Žeivate and Helēna Heinrihsone in December 2025, prior to the opening of the exhibition “Oh My God, It’s So Beautiful!” /

 
White. 2025, oil on canvas, 150x180 cm

Helēna Heinrihsone lives and paints in Riga, Latvia. Her works are in private and public collections including the Latvian National Museum of Art and the Museum of the Artists’ Union of Latvia (Riga, Latvia), the Ludwig Museum (Cologne, Germany), the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia), and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA).