Solo exhibition by Katrīna Ģelze, a Latvian contemporary artist and photographer.

The exhibition “fast and furious” is centred on processing the aftermath of my father, Kristaps Ģelzis serious accident in 2016. After that, a sharp, talented and all-powerful man-artist is stuck in the grip of his trauma, anxiety and alcohol, slowly fading away in the fog of these circumstances. It’s a love letter to my dad – the only way I can, and perhaps have ever been able to, truly communicate with him. Through it, both thanks to him and in spite of him, I continue to search for my own voice in the art world. In searching for answers to why our relationship and communication have always been so complicated, unequal, and fraught with misunderstandings, a byproduct emerges – various memories, scenes, and associations about my dad, a figure who has both inspired and frightened me. The exhibition engages with the symbols of my father’s work while simultaneously exploring a deeply personal question: how to practice art while living in the shadow of my father’s success and personality. On one hand, I strive to distance myself from him and carve out my own unique voice. On the other hand, I cannot deny his profound influence on me - not only as a child and later as an adult, but also as an artist. His identity is fleeting and changing, but the imprint it left on me remains constant. His intellect and criticism have become an indelible filter in the internal conversation when I create or think about art, which I continue to address and depict in this exhibition. The exhibition takes visual inspiration from road traffic and various addictions, presenting them through a bright, contrasting colour scheme and meticulous execution. My approach is to address difficult topics through powerful visual enjoyment and high technical precision, combining direct openness, vulnerability, and humour. I continue to pursue my characteristic surrealist approach to oil painting, complementing it with various spatial objects.