AIR

AIR M A R I E T TA PAT R I C I A L E I S

An exhibition of artwork by

M A R I E T TA PAT R I C I A L E I S

Air begins at our feet and lifts upwards as it swirls around the planet touching each of us with life. Air, an exhibition of paintings and photos, is intended to make the beauty of air, whether dark or light, visible to our eyes. As we all breathe Earth’s air communally we are both the recipients and the guardians of the air that we share.

- Marietta Patricia Leis

AIR everywhere, everyplace moving – quivering indoors, outdoors here, there common denominator necessary, essential equalizes, unites destiny

your exhale, my inhale connected mutuality affecting all baby’s first, elder’s last time marked by breath

sharing, sharing

molecules interweaving mine, yours dependence dance embraced

polluted, dirtied, grey smoke blackened murky, brown disrespecting

long poignant song note deep dive, swimming rhythm in and out

trees cleanse purifying our air Attention!

newly mowed grass fragrant spring morn after a rain smelling you southern humidity northern light blown by a wind feeling you respect, gratitude guardians take care take care caring of Air

-Marietta Patricia Leis

Gallery entrance Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Latvia

AIR Air. Atmosphere. Invisible substance around us. Combinations of chemical elements.

Unknown. Something we cannot touch but at the same time, the essence of our existence.

Breathing. Living. It’s nothing and it’s everything at the same time.

By definition, air is the invisible substance surrounding planet Earth, a mixture mainly of oxygen and nitrogen. However, it has much more meaning to it, being irreplaceable, inspiring, so valuable and ever-present throughout our lives.

Art that touches on this subject aims to encourage reflection about the value of air, which can easily be forgotten in the rush of everyday life. We tend to take for granted certain things essential to our survival. Viewing art is a willingness to stop, look, and take a moment to explore and reflect, to take time to think about the message art brings and draw parallels to one’s own life experiences and world view.

The 2019 solo exhibition, AIR, by Marietta Patricia Leis at the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre Modern Museum in Latvia, immersed viewers in the atmosphere of air made visible through her thoughtful and elegantly executed art. In this exhibition Leis invited the viewer’s reflections about air and likewise our global pollution challenges by exploring the beauty of air through a variety of mediums.

Leis created a stunning gallery space for contemplation with her reductive art; on one wall, her Pixels series of small arresting oil paintings---frozen moments of air’s ever changing patterns; on the opposite wall, her AIR installation series of minimalist color photographs that capture skies from her travels around the globe; and at each end of the gallery, Breaths, her larger scale photographs printed on silk, creating airy movement as each visitor passed by.

Leis’ poem AIR, written specifically for the exhibition, was displayed in three languages.

In its essence, the poem emphasizes and appreciates the global significance of air as an essential planetary element that knows no borders while recognizing that all of Earth’s inhabitants are equally its guardians. Leis’ art inspires us to uphold this responsibility.

In addition to the exhibition, the artist gave a thoughtful public lecture, My Life in Art, and an inspiring master class, Armature of Abstract Art, during which some of Leis’ primary interests, i.e., internal and external landscapes and the relationship between her art and her poetry, were explored. Leis’ AIR exhibition, her lecture and her master class, displayed her virtuosity as an artist and her command of mediums, presenting her audience with elegance, beauty and thought-provoking abundance.

Four pieces from this exhibition are now included in the permanent Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre collection.

- Ta t j a n a Č e r n o v a , C u r a t o r Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Latvia

Gallery Installation Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Latvia

The sheer variety of colors, light conditions, hues, tones and saturations attributed to Leis’ work reveals an artist that is concerned with looking at, meditating on and luxuriating in the bounty of nature and all its endless per mutations.

- Jeanne Brasile, C u r a t o r, G a l l e r y D i r e c t o r Wa l s h G a l l e r y , S e t o n H a l l U n i v e r s i t y

Air #5, 10 in. x 8 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Air #18, 6 in. x 4 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Air #3, 10 in. x 5 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Air #8, 11 in. x 8.5 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Air #6, 8 in. x 8 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Air #16, 12 in. x 12 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Breath #2, 54 in. x 41 in.

Pigment print on Habotai silk

Breath #1, 54 in. x 41 in.

Pigment print on Habotai silk

Air #7, 5 in. x 10 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Air #14, 5 in. x 5 in.

Pigment print mounted on aluminium

Pixels #16, 5 in. x 5 in. x 2.5 in Oil on Birch wood

Pixels #10, 5 in. x 5 in. x 2.5 in Oil on Birch wood

Pixels #15, 5 in. x 5 in. x 2.5 in Oil on Birch wood

Pixels: top: 8, 25, bottom: 4, 27, 5 in. x 5 in. x 2.5 in. Oil on Birch wood

...but in Leis’ vision the edge has renewed force as a transition from the worldly to the sublime..

- William Zimmer Art Critic & NYTimes Contributer

Marietta Patricia Leis is an internationally exhibiting multimedia artist & poet. Originally from New Jersey USA, she has lived & worked in New York City as well as Los Angeles, & is currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Leis’ reductive, expressive visual practice is shaped out of experiments in material process & takes inspiration from the forms of nature, sense of place & the internal landscape.

For more info please visit www.mariettaleis.com

Kate Rothko Pritzel viewing Air exhibition Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Latvia

SPECIAL THANKS Daugavpils Mark Rothko Centre, Latvia Tatjana Černova, Curator Daugavpils Mark Rothko Centre, Latvia Photographs & Design by: Stefan Jennings Batista Additional installation photographs by: Tatjana Cernova & David Vogel

All artwork by Marietta Patricia Leis

© 2019