MADONNAS
Kristians Brekte and the exhibition's curator Ieva Kulakova trace the lives of seven women working on the streets.For more than half a year, the two engaged in a detective-like process to get to know these girls' everyday lives. The exhibition has become, in a way, a documentary study - what are the fates of these women and our sometimes erroneous stereotypes about them.
It is inspired by the story of Mary Magdalene, which tells of the possibility of transforming one's life by encountering the true love of God. On the other hand, it is a well-known fact in the history of art that the models for saints are most often real people who are the artist's fellow human beings, with a wide range of occupations.
The models in the exhibition, the Madonnas of Riga, are women engaged in intimate service in Riga and the Riga region.
What attracts the authors of the exhibition is not only the proximity of the abyss in the model's personality.
The revelation of the seven models chosen for the exhibition is realised on three levels.
Firstly, the artist's interpretation of the character in question in eight large-scale watercolours. Secondly, the story of each character and the circumstances of their encounter, as recorded by the exhibition curator. At the end of each story, there are also the models' own answers to simple questions that reveal their personalities through everyday details. Finally, each Riga Madonna is a co-creator of the exhibition - with photographs taken by herself with a Kodak disposable camera.