Center of Contemporary Art founded in 2009 in Riga Kim? actively participated in the creation of the artistic discourse in Latvia, simultaneously initiating and engaging in many international collaborations, to which was added in 2020 the presentation of Latvian art in a commercial context.
This year’s NADA Miami booth features Elsa Seele’s medium format aluminum plates coated with semi-fluid materials and gelatin/graphite designs that convey a message about deception strategies and camouflage techniques in the history of warfare and other horrific fights.
Alongside the aluminum “shield paintings” are scattered “cat tails” throughout the stand. This body of work was created by forcibly reducing the standardized frame of the painting and the layer of colors it contains to a single, small size. Rolled up and strung on a thin stick, the painted surface transforms into a “cat’s tail”, which allows us to speak of the weariness and fragility of the body in the face of brutal action.
The latest body of work, which will be completed in Miami a few days before the fair, demonstrates a new approach to Sile’s artistic research. Moving away from the “stick” format and expanding onto a flattened horizontal surface, “cat tails” became a cacophonous mass of multi-layered detail, layers, textures, colors and text fragments.
New Alliance of Art Dealers (The new alliance of art dealers, NADA) is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to supporting, developing and promoting new visions of contemporary art. NO Miami is the flagship annual art fair/fair of the organization founded in 2002, first held in 2003 with only 35 attendees. 20 this year. NO Miami 146 galleries, art spaces and non-profit organizations participate in the fair, covering 40 cities around the world. This is the second Kim? membership NOT Miami, to follow in 2020 online and in person Kim? for the exhibition organized on the premises in collaboration with the gallery 427 And Bass.
Elsa Sīle (Latvia, Switzerland) works with a probability menu consisting of units and their plays (sets). By combining analytic division with mental imagery, she constructs a psychospatial typology in the lexical stream. In 2019 she obtained her master’s degree Fine Arts ZHdK, in Zurich. Latest personal exhibitions: Center for Contemporary Art Kim? (Riga, 2022), PHILIPPZOLLINGER GALLERY (Zurich, 2021); unanimous consent (Zurich, 2020) e Kulturgebirge Zurich (2020). Participated duo and group exhibitions including Kunsthaus Pasquart (Bile, 2022), Smack Mellon (New York, 2022) construction house (Zurich, 2022); Misako and Rosen (Tokyo, 2022); Kim? Contemporary Art Center (Riga, 2020); Kunsthalle Zurich (Zurich, 2020); Hamlet (Zurich, 2020) e Kirchgasse Gallery (Stackborn, 2020). In 2020, Elsa Síle received Exhibition of the Zurich factory art award and in 2021 – the scholarship of the city of Zurich.
In the fall of 2022, Sīle participated in the International Workshops and Curators program at ISCP (International Study and Curatorial Program) in residence in New York Kim? As part of the residency award.
