STORM

New works from Greenlandic-Latvian artist Bolatta Silis-Høegh

Nov. 7.- Febr. 14 2016

A hurricane has arrived. It tears down our barriers, our emotional security. Landscape is talking back, howling in revolt, pain and fear. We are left bare, our complacency interrupted, forced to acknowledge our own vulnerability and engage with all that is unsaid in our time of crisis. 

With these words, the American art historian David Winfield Norman very precisely assesses the tone of seriousness, anger and determination to act, which permeates Bolatta Silis-Hoegh’s new works.

The artist makes clear that the spark, which ignited both political frustration and anger, and inspired her profound desire to paint, was the decision made by the Government of Greenland in 2013 to repeal the country's zero tolerance of uranium mining. Today, two years after this crucial political decision, the fundamental issue of mankind’s relationship to, and exploitation of nature, is more relevant and urgent than ever.

However, in the exhibition, Bolatta goes beyond purely political issues and confronts the divide between human and natural. Her new series of works brings together the familiar greenlandic landscape, which is violated and threatened by a personal and profound mental landscape. The works encourage the viewer to dig deep and respond not only to personal pain, but also to the other resources that mankind possesses.

The storm is threatening, but never overpowers the artist or the viewer. The apparent darkness and bleakness of the works create a space, in which we can openly confront the fear, anger and pain, which is innate in all of us.