*1983 in Riga (LV), lives and works in Riga (LV)

Nothing Passes (Only That, What Passes By)
2017, installation with paintings and palm tree

Inspired by the disintegration of the works of the past by Jānis Borgs (for example: his murals were painted over in various public institutions and part of his work was burned by the artist himself), Kaspars Groševs turned to the self-censorship of his creative work and overpainted some of his artwork of the past years. At the same time, he refers to minimalism as a reaction to abstract expressionism and therefore wants to focus on the fragility of the works of modern artists, because many artists who recognize no value in their work decide to destroy it.

In parallel to self-censorship, the artist also devotes himself to censorship in Soviet times by restoring his artwork, which was created in 2014. At the time, he used a postcard his grandfather had drawn in the Gulag and covered it with palm leaves.

The inspiration for the creation of this artwork came from Jānis Borgs’ article about the press censorship in the Soviet Union in the journal Studija – at that time unwanted persons were retouched with palm leaves. Later Groševs found out that Jānis Borgs got the term “palming” from Valentīna Kulagin (Gustavs Klucis’ wife).

 

Kaspars Groševs
*1983, Rīga (LV), dzīvo un strādā Rīgā (LV)

Nekas nepāriet (tikai tas, kas garām iet)
2017, instalācija ar gleznām un palmu

Iedvesmojoties no Jāņa Borga veiktās pagātnes darbu disintegrācijas (piemēram, viņa murālijām dažādās valsts iestādēs tika pārgleznots pāri un daļu no saviem darbiem sadedzināja pats mākslinieks), Kaspars Groševs pievērsās savas radošās darbības pašcenzūrai un pārgleznoja dažus no saviem pēdējo gadu mākslas darbiem. Tajā pašā laikā viņš atsaucas uz minimālismu kā reakciju uz abstrakto ekspresionismu un tāpēc vēlas pievērsties mūsdienu mākslinieku darbu trauslumam, jo daudzi mākslinieki, kas nesaskata savos darbos nekādu vērtību, nolemj tos iznīcināt.
Paralēli pašcenzūrai mākslinieks nododas arī padomju laiku cenzūrai, atjaunojot savu mākslas darbu, kas tika radīts 2014. gadā. Tolaik viņš izmantoja pastkarti, kuru viņa vectēvs bija uzzīmējis Gulagā, un noklāja to ar palmu lapām.
Iedvesma šī mākslas darba radīšanai nāca no Jāņa Borga raksta žurnālā „Studija“ par preses cenzūru Padomju Savienībā – tajā laikā nevēlamas personas tika retušētas ar palmu lapām. Vēlāk Groševs noskaidroja, ka Jānis Borgs terminu “palmēšana” aizguvis no Valentīnas Kulaginas (Gustava Kluča sievas).