15.10. - 28.11.2026

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

REINIS BERZINS

Things That Make You Feel Good

“I think a lot about light and colour. About a certain kind of stimulation and surprise that the process of painting can offer when it is not overly controlled. About the possibility of experiencing something bright, bringing a little order to something overly chaotic, retaining movement and chance, and holding it together within my own visual language. The content of the works, or their source material, is also something that has made me feel good simply through seeing it and has inspired me to paint.
My paintings are based on monochromatic areas of colour that exist in the territory between the abstract and the representational, the finished and the unfinished, the chaotic and the ordered. Everyday objects, a ray of light through the studio window, a memory of an event or a material quality are transferred into the medium of painting, exploring the behaviour of colour and creating an internal system of painting in which both chaotic and harmonious qualities coexist.
The transparency of colour and the gradation of light around what is depicted are essential – the way one mass gradually transitions into another, how the image is simultaneously revealed and disappears. At times, this gradation is intensified in the works to the point of minimal contrasts and simplified areas. What remains is simply an area of colour, light and subject matter.
I am interested in the relationships between positive and negative forms, and in how information about what is depicted can be conveyed through the interplay of these areas and colour gradations.
I am interested in the point of focus within the image as it is being read – the moment when areas come together or, conversely, dissolve and become difficult to distinguish from one another. This leads to an interest in visual weight. In my view, monochromatic painting and colour gradation are closely connected to the sensation of weight: which areas convey lightness, and which possess a certain heaviness; which works consist solely of lightness and light, and which have an immediately perceptible weight. Form has weight, colour has weight, light has no weight.

Not saying too much, not saying too little, retaining a certain sense of incompleteness and absurdity – in this way, the act of painting perhaps becomes more important than what is depicted.
It is a kind of desire to step back from reality, while still retaining reality, because everything is grounded in it. A kind of turning away from the definite, allowing oneself to embrace the indefinite, and then returning to the definite and to the interplay between the two. Indefiniteness may also be a characteristic and tendency of the present moment, of our time,” – Reinis Bērziņš, 2026.

From the series Everyday Objects. 2026, oil on canvas, 38x30 cm 

I was particularly drawn to the light in his large and small works, as well as by the warmth and simplicity conveyed by the objects or figures depicted in Reinis Bērziņš’ paintings. (Ilze Žeivate, 2026.)

Reinis Bērziņš (1989) has developed an experimental artistic practice that transforms everyday objects, activities, and situations into artistic material. His practice encompasses painting, drawing, installation, and sculpture, performance, and costume design. In 2018, he graduated from the Painting Department of the Art Academy of Latvia. Since 2015, he has participated in exhibitions and art projects in Latvia and abroad.
Reinis Bērziņš frequently works in collaboration with artist Kate Krolle, as well as with various cultural and performing arts initiatives, including the outdoor art project Savvaļa/Savage, Dirty Deal Teatro, the performance festival Starptelpa, and the Valmiera Summer Theatre Festival. In 2026, Bērziņš and Krolle’s joint exhibition The Organizer (2025, Cultural Space Smilga, Riga) received the Annual Art Award of Latvia in the category Artwork of the Year. In 2025, the two artists received the Spēlmaņu nakts award for Costume Artists of the Year for their work on the KVADRIFONS production Ticks. In 2022, Reinis Bērziņš received the BDO Young Artists Award.