Arnolds Andersons was born in Riga, Latvia in 1991 the year when independence of Latvia was finally restored from USSR. He now lives and works in London, England. He graduated with Bachelors of Arts with Honours from Kingston University in 2014 and has been exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally. He won Special Prize of the Young Painter Prize of Baltic States in 2019. Most recently, his work was featured in an exhibition at Christie’s auction house, London. Andersons works are in the collection of the Lewben Art Foundation.
As a young gay man in post-soviet society he felt rejection and betrayal. The ability to paint was his only escapism and compass for survival. His paintings are mostly figurative scenes that have a glimpse of the brutal reality of our mortal existence. Painting subjects that reflect a modern decadent lifestyle where the underlying reality differs to the surface. He chooses to depict a sense of grace paired with decay, either within subject’s expression or silhouette. His digital collage like approach in paintings shows his ability to combine an anonymous figure, unknown silhouette, which appears to be part of and yet alien to their surroundings, offering loneliness and tranquility in a self-sufficient way with distinct sharp architectonic lines and flat coloured surfaces that shape his scrupulous style. There is a continuous search of the hidden in the story.
Education
2011 – 2014 BA(hons) Product Design, Kingston University, UK
2007 – 2011 Riga Design and Art School, Latvia
Solo exhibitions
2023 June “PRELUDE”, Art Corner H Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2022 May “LETSPLAYAGAME”, LOOK! It’s a Gallery , Riga, LV
2021 Nov “Alone”, Neoklasika, Riga, LV
2020 Sep “Stranger”, D84, Riga, LV
2019 Sep “Present”, Oscar Isberian, Chicago, USA
2018 Nov “Disappear Here”, Menier Gallery, London, UK
2018 Apr “Perspective on the human condition”, Menier Gallery, London, UK
Group exhibitions
2022 “Noewe Foundation Collection”, Sun Blanket Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2021 XIII Young Painter Prize, MO museum, Lithuania
2020 “Terrence Higgins Trust” Charity auction, Christie’s London, UK
2019 XI Young Painter Prize, Vilniaus dailes akademija, Lithuania
2018 X Young Painter Prize, Tsekh Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
2014 Graduation show, Business Design Center, London, UK
Awards / Scholarships/ Prizes/ Residencies
2019 Shortlisted for 2020 Summer Marathon at beerslondon.com
2019 Special Mention prize at XI Young Painter Prize
2018 Shortlisted for beerslondon.com contemporary visions
2018 Finalist at X Young Painter Prize
Collections