Flēra Bīrmane, FADING at Off-site, Riga

“FADING” by Flēra Bīrmane, curated by Elīna Sproģe and Žanete Liekīte, at Off-site, Riga, 21/02/2025 – 30/04/2025.

Exhibition Text:
Time passes, but what remains? ‘This too shall pass’, read the engraving on Solomon’s ring. An old poster column comes into view, covered in peeling paper skins. New headlines are pasted over the old, until they too fade and peel away—becoming old news, and revealing worn-out windows onto the distant landscapes of the past. It is unclear whether time spirals upward in a Buddhist sense, loops forward in Kierkegaardian existentialism, descends into Schopenhauerian meaninglessness, or spins endlessly on a flat circle, as Nietzsche saw it. Yet time moves on—cyclically, with periodic eclipses—until we fade away. Flēra Bīrmane’s solo exhibition Fading traces the cyclical decay of both the private emotional interior and the outer collective information field. Once known for her photorealistic paintings that defined a moment in the Latvian art scene a decade ago, Bīrmane now signals a shift. The works in this exhibition—originally rooted in her earlier painterly language—have undergone a process of self-erasure, only to be reborn through the repetitive motion of the sewing machine. New revelations are stitched over the old, borrowing from eco-conscious fashion practices and reimagining them as modes of inner sustainability—a kind of emotional recycling. Past impressions are fragmented, cut up using William Burroughs’ technique, and reassembled into chance-driven narratives that unfold with unexpected meaning. Hypnotic soundwave loops through the space—deceptively repetitive, subtly shifting. Composer Jūlijs Melngailis blends organic and synthetic textures into meditative rhythms that draw the listener inward, tracing deeper circuits of consciousness. Echoing the fractured mosaic of the artworks, architect Zane Tetere-Šulce’s metallic scenography furthers the disjunction: jagged planes of metallic tiles rise and layer in places, shaping a spatial and ritual design—a place to linger and observe the entropic landscape. The industrial covering panels used here become a spatial marker within Bīrmane’s slowly disintegrating world. As one walks through the exhibition space, each step requires careful attention—one misstep, and you risk slipping into nothingness. The exhibition moves through feelings that are both deeply personal and universally shared—collective symbols and images begin to surface. Love with thorns: a braided child’s hair, pierced by spikes. Black leather gloves, waiting to be pulled on when something dirty needs doing. A pretty girl with sad eyes—you almost want to ask, “What could possibly be wrong?” But then something in her expression clicks. You’ve seen it before. “What’s wrong with all of us?” would be the better question. And from the distance of time, it makes sense. Small sorrows give way to bigger ones—heavier, more pressing. What once felt like rock bottom turns out to be just a rest stop before the next drop. Everything we feel has been felt before—and will be felt again long after we’re gone. A looping of some archetypal script. As Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh put it, it’s ‘the illusion of separation’. Or, to say it simply: we’re not as unique as we think. Following this thread, we slip into sync with humanity, catching glimpses of ourselves now and then in the eyes of strangers. Time moves forward—yesterday recedes, tomorrow arrives, and the mind obediently follows. Through a choreography of abstract gestures, Bīrmane borrows the “myth of eternal return” and reanimates it within the framework of contemporary space. Curated by Elīna Sproģe and Žanete Liekīte Exhibition scenography: Zane Tetere-Šulce Exhibition soundwaves: Jūlijs Melngailis Lighting designer: Miks Jefimovs Graphic design: Renāte Vērmane With thanks to Vadims Reinfelds, Ervīns Ivanovskis and Gaismas akadēmija for their support.