Summary of Vija Celmins
Celmins's name has an elevated standing within the contemporary art world. Celmins has built her reputation largely on a series of exquisitely intricate and hypnotic copies - painted, drawn or sculpted - of oceans, deserts, rocks, spider webs, views of the night sky, warplanes, and everyday household objects. Drawing on materials sourced from newspapers, magazines and books, on found objects, and on her own photographs, she has talked about her art in terms of "redescriptions" that invite her audience to consider overlaps between concepts of "fact, fiction and invention". For Celmins, moreover, meaning resides very much in the material properties of her artworks.
Accomplishments
- Many of Celmins's works prompt questions around representation, perception and human experience. For example, through her "all-over" compositions of waves and celestial views - that is, views without horizons, borders or other reference points - she asks her viewer to focus on the complexity and wonder of their natural surroundings.
- Celmins's early works drew on press photographs showing images of war and gun violence. By rendering her images through a monochrome grayscale
Vija Celmins
American, born Latvia
, Riga, Latvia
Vija Celmins in her studio, ; photo: Eric McNatt
Biography
Born in Latvia, Vija Celmins fled the country with her family at the start of World War II. They lived in refugee camps until immigrating to Indianapolis in Celmins went on study painting in Indiana and at UCLA, and soon became known for realistic but uncanny paintings of household appliances as well as repainted versions of journalistic images. The latter works objectively record the mediation of real-world events by black-and-white television and photography.
Celmins's mastery of gray tones was well suited to her later depictions of expansive natural phenomena such as desert sand, ocean waves, starry skies, or spider webs. In these works she laboriously translates photographic details into paintings, drawings, and prints. Despite their realism, the images relate to all-over abstraction in the sense that they reject the pictorial conventions of depth and a single figure on a distinct background.
Artist Interviews
Learn More about Vija Celmins
Through a series of study days and innovative workshops, the Artist Initia
Meet the artist: Vija Celmins
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Her work is held in major museum collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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Since she has been the subject of over 40 solo exhibitions and has had major retrospectives in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and Paris.
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Listen to Celmins discuss her work in this video from the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art, and explore her process and inspiration in this interview with The Met. Get a glimpse into her precision and attention to detailin this fascinating video from Art
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Why not join our art curator for an informal Bitesize talk that will include Vija Celmins' work on Wednesday 13 November. You can find out more and book your tickets here.
Land Sea Sky: Ingrid Pollard, JMW Turner & Vija Celmins is on display at The Box until the end of Sunday 12 January. Opening hours are 10am-5pm Tuesday-Sunday and selected bank holidays. Admission is free.
Header image credit:
Vija Celmins, Untitled (Web 1), ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland © Vija Celmins, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery.Vija Celmins (Painter) was born on the 25th of October, She was born in s, in Silent Generation. Her birth sign is Scorpio and her life path number is Vija&#;s birth flower is Marigold and birthstone is Opal and Tourmaline. What does this all mean? Let&#;s find out!
NAME: Vija Celmins REAL NAME: Vija Celmins NICKNAME: Vija PROFESSION: Painter GENDER: Female BIRTHPLACE: Latvia ETHNICITY: Unknown NATIONALITY: American RELIGION: Unknown SEXUALITY: N/A 1. Bio
Vija Celmins, best known for being a Painter, was born in Latvia on Tuesday, October 25, Latvian-born artist known for her photo-realistic art and for her monochromatic paintings and pop sculptures.
Family: Her family fled Latvia and relocated to the United States after World War II. Vija Celmins father&#;s name is under review and mother unknown at this time. We will continue to update details on Vija Celmins&#;s family.
FATHER: MOTHER: unknown at this time
BROTHER(S): Not available SISTER(S): Not available Education: The education details are not available at this time
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