Maksla XO (LV) is one of Riga’s leading contemporary art galleries, set in a functionalist building designed by Teodors Hermanovskis in the city’s Art Nouveau district. Established in 1999, the gallery focuses on contemporary and emerging art from Latvia, including painting, sculpture, and works on paper. Its programme spans a wide range of styles, from traditional representation to socially-engaged practices. Founded and curated by Ilze Zeivate, the gallery represents key figures in Latvian contemporary art, including Helēna Heinrihsone, Ivars Heinrihsons, Ieva Iltnere, Kristaps Ģelzis, Jānis Mitrēvics, Ilmārs Blumbergs, Ģirts Muižnieks, Kristaps Zariņš, Leonards Laganovskis, Vineta Kaulača, Paulis Liepa, Arturs Bērziņš, and Roman Korovin, alongside collaborations with international artists such as Marko Mäetamm, Bodo Korsig, Stephen Wilks, and Erik Mattijssen.
At Foto Tallinn, MAKSLA XO brings together works by two seemingly different yet fundamentally similar artists: the photograms of British photographer and researcher David Penny, and the diptychs of Latvian photographer and painter Roman Korovin. Penny’s works unfold from an initial, exploratory question: what happens when making a photograph using a single wavelength of light? Korovin’s works, meanwhile, are based on the repeated use of the same motif with only minor variations in light, framing, or movement. These repetitions form sequences in which new meanings emerge through subtle shifts of tone and rhythm – the artist describes them as “the shortest stories ever,” with each pair or set marking a beginning and an end. Ultimately, the exposition is about space, emptiness, and tonality; the poetics and stillness of the object, the boundaries and intersections between science and art.
