Andris Breze has been active as a printmaker, graphic designer, sculptor and installation artist since graduating from the Art Academy of Riga. In 1984, he was involved in a seminal exhibition that took place in Riga’s cathedral, one of the first bold showings of installation art in Latvia. He has been represented in many Baltic exhibitions including major biennials and triennials, and significant Baltic exhibitions abroad. Working with found materials, Breze creates sculptures from objects with a past, re-evaluating the meaning of cultural remnants.
The Bed of Death, 1992 Detail		The Bed of Death, 1992 1.5 x 2.14 x 0.92 m (click images for larger view)
The Box of Bread, 1991 One in a series of nine 63 x 78 x 18 cm		INTERPRETATION Andris Breze is part of a generation of artists who in the 1980s were dissatisfied with the status quo of Soviet realism. Interestingly, he and other artists found freedom outside the traditional and hierarchical genres of painting and sculpture, in the graphic arts. He was part of a group of four or five artists who created the first installations in the Baltic states. More recently, Breze has been making sculptural pieces with found materials. He also has a large body of prints that incorporate drawing, collage and ready-made images. Breze has created a series using breadboxes, bread being a hugely important staple in the Baltic countries that is often bought directly from the carrying boxes. He encases these boxes with memorabilia containing bits of culture and history from Latvia, and in doing so enshrines this cultural material. In Canada, wooden bread boxes are not typical but we were able to find standard metal ones. Breze made Eight Canadian Bread Boxes using cultural material brought with him such as Russian army boots that are positioned, ostensibly over a toilet and have a built-in gauge that indicates the temperature is rising and ready to boil over. Bed of Death is a large plexiglass case with air portals on the side allowing for the smell to come out. Inside is an old bed with only the springs remaining and attached to it are over a dozen commemorative photos typically used as markers on gravestones. It is a powerful image of death and memory – a cathartic work that divests itself of the former history. ARTIST'S C.V.
Eight Canadian Bread Boxes, 1992 63 x 78 x 18 cm
Eight Canadian Bread Boxes, 1992 63 x 78 x 18 cm
Eight Canadian Bread Boxes, 1992 63 x 78 x 18 cm

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