Tatjana Semane, “Riding a horse”, 2017. Oil on canvas, 70×100 cm.
Photo: Ilze Kuišele
Guna Millersone, “Kultūrzīme”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
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I really wanted Tatjana Semane’s exhibition to be in Tulsa. I am somewhat familiar with the artist, we have talked at her solo exhibitions in the Agijas Sūnas gallery (2008, 2013), and I had the honor of voting for Tania’s admission to the Latvian Artists’ Union in the then so strict board (2008). I have liked her pictures for a long time, and now I must admit, I don’t even really remember the last time I saw such a good, energetic and femininely smart retrospective as the recently seen “Personal Cosmogony” in Riga, in the art gallery of the Latvian Artists’ Union, such a “gracious sight”. Even that didn’t prevent me from suddenly feeling like I was sometimes in some unexpected discovery yard of the Venice Biennale, where brilliantly beautiful paintings brought from nowhere shine behind the windows in small rooms. It has happened.
Tatjana Semane (1953) did not study art at any educational institution, but she has a doctorate in philosophy (she studied at the Department of Overseas Philosophy of M. Lomonosov Moscow State University). Several of her books on the topics of the history of world philosophy have been published in Latvia (“Gudrību šerjot”, “Zinātne”, 2003) and others, including those in which she was a member of author collectives. She was a teacher at several universities, also abroad.
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However, she has been painting since 1995: someone had dreamed in her place that Tania would be a painter. The very beginning was in America, where she was obliged to accompany her diplomat husband; later it also happened that she created and created her pictorial handwriting while living in another country from time to time (China, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus); her personal exhibitions were also held there. It is hard to imagine what Tanya’s first paintings could have been like, but it seems that the inexperienced artist, despite her apparent fragility, was greatly helped by her own sense of reality and the wisdom of a philosopher: I have no art education, but I want to paint, I adore the color red , and I need it. Dreams come true! Maybe so.
When evaluating the works of Tatjana Semanes, art describers first of all mention the signs of naivety or “art brut”, perhaps also drawing parallels with Mondrian’s sculpture of female figures. This can already be done, and perhaps she, at the age of forty and a bit more, has consciously chosen something like this as something suitable for herself after visiting museums in America and the world. And yet today it can be said that each painting is first of all her personal thought (or idea or definition of meanings and truths) that she searches for and finds in herself or in the life around her without fear at all. It has been a very important decision. And first of all, don’t be afraid to paint a person with all his problems. At the same time, the paintings are strangely beautiful, despite the obvious irony in the characters and actions of the pictures. Be that as it may, you don’t feel the dramatic proximity of calamities or depression in them at all. She herself has mentioned: “My paintings are like stops in my life…” They have helped her to remember what has happened to her. But did she herself “know” that she would feel the materiality or substance of color so well, or the choice of the right shade of red to tell one of her stories? It turns out that it has come together amazingly well. It is not a glum coloring, and in the loose application on the various surfaces (cardboard, canvas, Chinese cork wood board, some old picture), perhaps there is a feeling of insecurity and questions, but maybe it can be called a sense of vibration and change of the woman’s world? Because there is always something unknown ahead and a little lack of courage.
It was difficult to select works for the exhibition. And this time it came out like this – it is an exhibition about a woman, created by a small but smart artist, who, like the rest of us, is always in front of a decision or a turning point in life. And it turns out it’s a paintable thing! You want to be loved, you want to be beautiful, to adorn yourself in a bridal veil, to start a new and happy life… And it goes without saying that you have endless care for the other person. At the same time, there is a desire to be free and respect yourself. It is the eternal conflict between duty and free choice. As if nothing new, it has always been there. But for balance – dreams and silent wishes. And suddenly, perhaps a couple of weeks ago, a portrait of a woman with the unexpected name “Peace” appeared, painted on a stunning blue background. It must be Tanya herself: a stage in her life has come to an end and at this moment there is peace.
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An often noticeable graphic sign in the works of the exhibition is the eye, which is present in many places – a symbol of the inner world of a person. Yes, it probably is, but the emphatically observing presence of an eye or many eyes in several pictures once again emphasizes the story of the importance of the big decision. The best story of the exhibition is about the happy meeting of the wisdom of life and good painting.
Tatjana Semane, “The cat knows”, 2011. Oil on canvas, 100×70 cm.
Photo: Ilze Kuišele
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2023-07-01 16:32:03
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