16.07. - 22.08.2026

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

ENVIJA

Free Man with a Stiff Neck

I have been fascinated by anti-painterly forms in painting for quite some time. In fact, it is difficult to find objects that are not really inscribed in the traditions of painting, which are a cool, challenging task to depict. These objects came into my sight, and I painted them not only to try to prove something to myself by playing with an unusual form: to fight the depiction of boredom, the driving of the power of painting into ungrateful forms. These modern symbols also create a narrative about the relationship between ‘cheap’ and ‘not so cheap’. About status and quality of life, about needs.
In the new series of works, Envija speaks of a paradox, in which artistic freedom and the author's voice, flowing freely, have travelled as far as some rather notable tradition within the shared context. One could live freely within it, without a care, were it not for that damned ambition to be the most singular unicorn of all unicorns. The tension of being ABOUT. (Envija, July 2026)

In Envija’s expressionistic, paradox-filled painting, the leading themes are women, lived experience, the worlds of GREAT ART, and themes of culture and language. The works unfold as autobiography, as a personal narrative. Envija grounds this in a deep and honest personal feeling, and in a self-knowledge of herself and her surrounding environment. Within it, cultural-historical and contemporary symbols, figures from art history, and her own invented ones, arrange themselves.
Envij’'s painterly expression is multilingual – figurative painting alternates with text paintings: poetry, notes of self-revelation, and appeals to herself and to the world. For Envija, these are textures, surfaces and textual stories. Open, emotional, at times hooligan-like, witty, unsophisticated – it’s Envija. (Ilze Žeivate)

I love you so very much. I love you so very much, and I want to sit down and chat once more, and to thank you for everything you have so generously given me. I want to kiss you and hug you tightly, my dear ones, who have come from the great tribe of Matisse.
I want to sit with you and talk, and argue, and let my word be just as sharp as yours, Raimond – so that you laugh yourself sick and shit yourself when I answer your question: “Why Poland?” So that you, dear David, sigh and agree: “Well, that could be it, well, that could be it.”
That is the most important thing in my life: the Judge’s verdict – undoubtedly, we are one tribe of Matisse.

A motif that I have discussed in various ways on smallscale, I have also implemented on a largescale. this painting is the “critical infrastructure” in the concept of the exhibition “free man with a stiff neck”. Fucking validation issues. Imaging the ambitious appropriation, Fear never left me. Fear of the possibility that I am about to point myself into a corner which is not meant for me. While I was painting chairs in small formats, Staprāns croaked. I had met him. I ran into him on the street. We talked. He was evasive towards my excitement and asked questions. Listened. The phrase he left me with was: why Poland?, when I told about my erasmus+. While layer of largescale picture was drying, Hockney kicked the bucket. I was waiting for the plane, scrolling through the last socials, when I saw the news about his death. Never met Hockney. I had only seen a couple of his works. Really enjoyed studying his “history of images”. I bursted into tears. Teardrop fell on my glasses –  a splash for Hockney. The drop managed to dry.
If I were truly a free artist, a free man, I would not wipe the splash from my fancy glasses. But my neck is stiff. (Envija, July 2026)

Envija graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia, Painting Department. She furthered her painting studies at the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts (2014–2015). Since 2013, she has taken part in numerous group exhibitions in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and has held several solo exhibitions.
Envija’s most notable exhibitions and projects in recent years include: Survival Kit 11 (Tērbatas Street 75, Riga, Latvia, 2020); the solo exhibition “We Will All Laugh, Grieve, Cry, and Laugh Again” (Jurmala City Museum, Jurmala, Latvia, 2020); and Indulis Zariņš / Ieva Iltnere and Envija (Mākslai vajag telpu Summer House, Riga, Latvia, 2019).
Envija’s paintings are held in the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), and in the Zuzāns Collection (at the ZUZEUM Art Museum, Riga, Latvia).

More:      https://replay.lsm.lv/lv/skaties/ieraksts/ltv/378896/kulturas-zinas