Henrijs Preiss

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Henrijs Preiss

Henrijs Preiss paints most unusual works that are at once both old and new, exotic and familiar to all. Having studied in the Academy system in Latvia and coming from a family of Latvian and Russian artists, Henrijs has an in-depth knowledge of the compositional and spatial structures used in the creation of medieval religious icons. Drawing on these pre-Renaissance composition methods, he then combines them with 20th century abstract painting and cabalistic symbolism, resulting in works that are unusually balanced for abstract paintings. They travel a long time line, speaking across cultures to the sensation of hidden meaning through their motifs, and exuding all the compacted power of ancient icons but in a contemporary painted work.

Henrijs Preiss' paintings are an exploration into the unknown quite unlike anything else in contemporary art. They start by drawing on symbolic systems that have been used over the centuries to encode esoteric and forbidden knowledge: Judaic Kabala, Hindu Mandala, alchemic astrolabes, medieval starcharts, and Masonic symbols and architecture. These he brings together within compositional frameworks often borrowed from Orthodox Icon painting to create works that are both viscerally exotic and strangely familiar - somehow spiritual, but decidedly unreligious. Henrijs Preiss' works continually expand the breadth and depth of his sources, and the ambitious complexity of his compositions. In his exhibition in March 2009, "The Third Degree" referred to the highest order of the freemason, the necessary qualification to become a grandmaster of the society, and many paintings directly reference familiar sources that are nevertheless rich in esoteric symbolism. "No. 231", for example, is a direct articulation of the reverse of a dollar bill which, adapted to Preiss' unique arrangement of symbols and geometry, becomes a maelstrom of mystical signs and shapes. Other paintings borrow straight from the formal architectural structures of classical buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome or Brunnelleschi's churches, shot through with mandalas, sun rays, cabbalistic grids and celestial calculations. The paintings themselves are physical, tactile objects, much like the icons they draw inspiration from. Like these icons, the surfaces are aged, cracked and scarred, but in place of figurative scenes, Preiss' paintings present unusually well-structured abstracts, with seemingly time-worn marks revealing a multitude of motifs and surfaces layered over each other. Many have the feel of an old book, lost on the distant shelf of an unvisited library, only to be discovered in a blaze of revelation. It is this process of discovery that characterises Henrijs' paintings - the experience of being presented with an open door into mysterious visual systems that have been used in different cultures over the years to articulate some kind of basic truths. And the result is curious: while they are exotic to all, regardless of their cultural background, the paintings are yet somehow very familiar - a form of archetypal painting that speaks to our most basic visual instincts.

View CV

Education

MA Scenography, Central Saint Martins, 2001
Professional degree in Scenography, Art Academy of Latvia, 1998
BA Scenography, Art Academy of Latvia, 1996

Solo Exhibitions

Artefacts, Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, Riga, Latvia, 2013
The Black Lodge, London Art Fair Solo Project, 2010
The Third Degree, Sesame, London, 2009
Icon Resistance, Sesame, London 2007
Sesame Gallery, London, 2005

Selected Exhibitions

Artefacts, James Freeman Gallery, London 2015
Systems, National Library of Latvia, Riga, 2015
Purvītis Prize, Arsenals Exhibition Hall, Latvian National Museum of Arts, Riga, 2015
100 Painters Of Tomorrow, Beers Contemporary, London, 2014
Perspective Of The Solar System, Arsenals Exhibition Hall, Latvian National Museum of Arts, Riga, LV, 2014
Family, Ziemelblazma Cultural Center, Riga, LV, 2014
HOT-ONE-HUNDRED, Schwartz Gallery, London.UK, 2013
Newspeak: British Art Now, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2010
Depth Charge: Henrijs Preiss & Yuko Nasu, James Freeman Gallery, London 2010
This Is London, DIE Galerie, Seoul, South Korea, 2010
Innerer Klang (curated by Irene Bradbury), Rod Barton, London 2009
PLUS, Volume Projects, Southwark, London 2009
East End Academy, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2009
SCOPE Basel, Switzerland, 2009
Art Daegu, South Korea, 2009
SCOPE, London, 2008
Five Years, Sesame Gallery 2008-09
Whitecross Gallery, London, 2008
Royal Academy, London, 2008
Regroup, Sesame, London, 2008
Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, USA, 2008
Bridge art Fair, London, 2008
The Sesame Salon 2006, 2007, London
AAF Contemporary Art Fair New York, 2005
Sense & Sensuality (Finalist), Royal College of Art, London, 2005
London Art Fair, Islington, 2005, 2007
“Religion, Art & War”, Salon des Arts, London, 2003
Bastejs Gallery, Riga, Latvia, 2000 - 2003
"The Discerning Eye", Mall Galleries, 2002
"Challenge The Nail", Salon des Arts, London, 2002
Latvian Embassy, London, 2002
East Art Gallery, Berlin, 1999
Pfefferbank Gallery, Berlin, 1998
Galerie-Werkstatt, Berlin, 1997 - 2000
"Scenobox - 2000", E. Smilgis Museum, Riga, Latvia

Collections
Saatchi Collection, London; Ravis Collection, Riga; KIA, Seoul; private collections worldwide

The Club at the Ivy Pop Up | Henrijs Preiss, Nicolas Freytag, Stuart MacKenzie

Available Artworks

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