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The large-format works in the series “Personal Itinerary” depict railway carriages that once ran on the route “Liepāja – Новополоцк,” with inscriptions and overlays left by people over the years. When the works were created, a lady who had worked on the railway came to the water tower of the Karosta and told us what each number and symbol on the carriages meant, Agate Apkalne recalls.

The idea of reproducing railway carriages in large-scale works has been waiting patiently for twenty years. “When I came to Liepāja and worked in the water tower of the Karosta, I realized that I wanted to realize this series, and I was given the opportunity,” says the artist.

The carriages are rendered using a combination of techniques – dry brush, flow, and stencils – visually creating a layered effect. This exhibition creates conceptual parallels with the idea of human interaction and the imprints it leaves.

The talent of the painter Agate Apkalne, consistently expressed in a hyper-realist style, has been appreciated in Latvia and has gained a wider circle of admirers in Western Europe, especially in Germany and France. Over the years, Agate Apkalne has gradually developed more and more symbolic subjects and polysemous images.

As the artist says: “Ideologically, my main interest is in the regularities of things. How current actions, actions and thought forms resonate in the future.” The artist reflects the idea that we do not exist without each other, that we are connected in one big chain, and that we build our future from our past through constant interaction.

In this series, the artist also emphasizes that every word and action we say changes the picture of our future. Thus, today is as we made it yesterday, perhaps even much, much earlier. There is a similarity with railway cisterns. One has ordered the tanks; one has drained them, and one has written the inscription. One day, someone will paint them, leading to this exhibition. How amazing the vast information or energetic charge that such a simple thing as a cistern, which we do not even notice in the rush of life, carries.

The exhibition will be shown in the Liepāja Museum from 11 January to 3 March.

Please note that photography and video will be taken during the opening. The footage will be used to advertise the event and the Liepāja Museum. By being in the event area, you acknowledge that you are aware of being included in the audio or visual material.

Attached: photos from Agate Apkalne’s personal archive – Agate Apkalne at Karosta Water Tower, “62 707 17 608” and “62 51353415”

Dace Kārkla,
Director of Liepāja Museum
Mob. Phone +371 26476528
E-mail: dace.karkla@liepaja.lv