Postponed from 2020, attendance at the Symposium in September 2021 was the first international placement since the pandemic. It was a chance to produce new work alongside international peers and present in the internationally recognised Mark Rothko Art Centre. It was very positive that so many of the participants planned were able to attend. Being the first placement for 18 months, we all felt trepidation at being even face to face, let alone making new work in a short schedule on a dedicated practice based meeting. In the event, we achieved remarkable results in an energetic, focused almost performative symposium although personally and perhaps naturally I would have liked longer to reflect on progress!
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| Symposium exhibition installation with right Barbara Nyst and Rene de Rooze |
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| First stages of two of the canvases; floor working throughout |
Symposium participants: Māris Upzars (Latvia) Joanna Pottle (USA) Amy Vensel (USA) Kuba Janyst (Poland) Barbara Nyst (Poland) Arvid Boecker (Germany) Leon Phillips (Canada) Rene de Rooze (Netherlands) Andrew Smith (Wales). Curator: Tatjana Černova. Director: Māris Čačka
Covid 19 and travel: Notably were the long haul artists travelling from New Mexico and Vancouver to attend with extended journeys into Europe to qualify for entry. For myself documentation could only be completed within 48 hours of travel and the this makes for uncertain planning. The Centre assisted in organising our pre travel test for return.
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Working with Leon Phillips (left) and Kuba Janyst
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The studio situation was compact, we were working at close contact and this benefited cross dialogue of practice based method, discussion and creative energy. If we had been in separate studios on our own then the cross fertization of activity would have been harder to experience and identify. We noted on the energy of the creative process during the 9 days on production time. There was a lot of discussion around process and materials, paints and mediums. Artists had shipped papers and paints before hand, or brought them with them to supplement those supplied by the Centre. I took a large case with extra fluorescent paint and mediums. Symposium work (four of five paintings produced) will be held in the Mark Rothko Art Centre permanent collection and exhibited in further exhibitions regionally and nationally as the Centre is pro-active in organising and lending collection works.
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| Hekela acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm 2021 (collection Mark Rothko Art Centre) |
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| Mihaila acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm 2021 (collection Mark Rothko Art Centre) |
In the final exhibition constructed in the last two days of the Symposium (so we could all attend the opening event) four of my paintings were selected and remain in the permanent collection of the Art Centre. The fifth returned with me, called Svente after the lake we visited, it was the only one of the group not to feature a street name from the fortress area.
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Corner of studio with five paintings in progress
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Svente acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm 202. (Anecdote: title referred to the lake near to Daugavpils that we visited for a swim excursion. I cycled there with Barbara Nyst).
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| Installation of the four paintings entering the permanent collection. Left: Amy Vensel |
I was grateful to receive an International Opportunities Fund grant from Wales Arts International and Arts Council of Wales. In application and report I emphasised that the Symposium only operates with in person attendance without online alternative under Covid 19 restriction. The importance of face to face meetings, collaborations, encounters has to be emphasised in the current climate of post pandemic future planning because the close contact of working, discussing, looking and understanding others processes, methods and ideas was so worth the small extra effort to safely attend under regulations and so valuable in terms of reinforcing practice and position in a supportive yet critical environment. I would advocate the continued significance of face to face encounter in terms of creative and cultural experience.
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| Konstantina acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm 2021 (collection Mark Rothko Art Centre) |
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| Aleksandra acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm 2021 (collection Mark Rothko Art Centre) |
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| Aleksandra (detail) webpage banner for the 17th Symposium Exhibition |
Mark Rothko Symposium 2021 Catalogue
Andrew Smith Statement
Recent work over the past 18 months has been studio based and reflective of my international placements of the preceding 24 months. Taking as a point of reference the idea of non-place, my painting has evolved through a parallel questioning of objectivity with methodology exploring memory and experience. With diffused imagery there appears an interrogation of reality, a dense clustering of line, shape and colour; intersections, gestures and directions. Rhythm and repetition, spontaneity and design are indicative of current work, combining both the rational and emotional state of making.
My painting methodology of working on location is defined as creating ‘scapes’ (involving multiple facets of a subject) evolved through both exploratory studies and in the production of a definitive project portfolio for exhibition. The overarching aim is the continued deconstruction of existing method to forge a new image, one apparently not encountered before. On short or longer residency situations there is relational time to assimilate surroundings and context, hence the work necessarily shifts and evolves depending on the place; the method explores the physiognomy of location.
17th International Painting Symposium Mark Rothko Exhibition, Mark Rothko Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia ISBN 978-9934-595-23-6
Supported by an International Opportunities Fund Grant from Wales Arts International
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