Four years ago, when answering a question in an interview about the absence of human beings in Šarkovska’s artworks and her future plans, the conversation steers towards the student exhibition in the Latvian Art Academy, happening at that very moment. In contrast to the traditional trial-nudes by other students, Magone had displayed her bicycle with a coquet boa tied around it as a proud and provocative self-nude. Time has passed; however, even today this symbolic nude and attitude has stayed unchanged, becoming the portrait of Magone Šarkovska and the face of the newest exhibition and experimental workshop – „Portrait of a bicycle with a boa”.
The self-portrait of an artist is inevitable in any creative work – text, composition, performance or object. The personal experience, for instance, relationships with family, surroundings, education, other encounters leave footprints, that consciously or subconsciously transform into artwork. If one considers the self-portrait as a natural part of the artist’s work, then a self-nude is a deliberate and courageous choice to disclose one’s own personality, offering the spectator a closer access to the artist and artwork.
The artwork by Magone Šarkovska is well known for its framing of the easily recognizable material world objects on canvas. The (at first sight) simple codes of the fragments of the space around us are transformed into a rhythmical melody of colours and pure lines in the absolute abstraction of reality.
Continuing the search for the realities in other dimensions and the possibilities of creative expression, the artist has chosen an experimental workshop, opposed to the classical format of an exhibition. The exhibition will develop all through the time of the exposition with the help of the curator, holding the role of a courier or assistant, providing the artist with the necessary attributes and taking the necessary notes.
The exhibition is on display in LCCA Office Gallery until September 20th. LCCA is open from Monday to Friday from 12.00 to 18.00. www.lcca.lv
About the artist:
Magone Šarkovska (1985) has studied fashion design in Rēzeknes Art School and scenography in the Latvian Art Academy. In 2013 received master’s degree in the Latvian Art Academy. Magone Šarkovska has displayed personal exhibitions in Latvia and Iceland, as well as taking part in group exhibitions, for instance, in “Vilhelm!” (in “Galerija 21”) and “Pilsētas bērni” (in the exhibition hall of the National Art Museum of Latvia “Arsenāls”). In 2010 received a scholarship and resided in Skatfell Artists’ residence. In 2012 received second place in the Young Painter Prize in Vilnius. Artwork by Magone Šarkovska is included in the J. Bosch collection in Germany.