Maxim Boxer Gallery

09/03/2026

We are pleased to invite you to the launch of the book "Rīgas 17, Strenči" and the accompanying event series, Happy People’s Pilgrimage Place, taking place at Maxim Boxer Gallery (48 Lāčplēša Street, Riga) from March 12 to March 26.

Happy People’s Pilgrimage Place.
A photography studio rivals perhaps only a restaurant in the number of important life events it marks. From the 1910s to the 1980s, the photo studio in Strenči welcomed its “pilgrims” mainly on happy occasions, leaving black-and-white imprints on their lives. What of that happiness can a smile on a glass negative revive today? Maybe the studio is a vessel of memories, rather than the photograph?

❯ Thursday, March 12, 6:30 PM
Book presentation and a performance by aerial photographer Juris Kalniņš, dedicated to an unknown visitor of the Strenči photo studio.
❯ Saturday, March 14, 3:00–4:30 PM
A talk with film critic Vadim Agapov, "Total Strenči Recall", about the peculiarities of photography meant for the “long memory.”
(The talk will be held in Russian.)
❯ Thursday, March 19, 6:00–9:00 PM
An opportunity to explore the book "Rīgas 17, Strenči" and reflect on photography as a tool of memory together with the book’s authors — Anna Volkova and Vladimir Svetlov.

Gallery opening hours outside the event program: Thursdays, 6:00–9:00 PM.
Last Thursday of the month: 6:00–10:00 PM.
🀰 The event poster features a fragment of the panel: “Your browser is severely outdated.”

Aicinām uz grāmatas “Rīgas 17, Strenči” atklāšanas svētku pasākumiem “Svētceļojumu vieta laimīgiem cilvēkiem”, kas, sākot ar 12. martu, notiks galerijā Maxim Boxer Gallery, Lāčplēša ielā 48, Rīgā.

Svētceļojumu vieta laimīgiem cilvēkiem.
Vērtējot pēc tā, cik bieži šajā vietā mēdz atzīmēt svarīgus notikumus, ar fotodarbnīcu var sacensties varbūt vēl vienīgi restorāns. 1910. – 1980. gadā Strenču fotodarbnīca uzņēma savus “svētceļniekus” galvenokārt tikai laimīgu iemeslu dēļ un veica atzīmes dzīves lappusēs melnbaltu fotogrāfiju izskatā. Ko no šīs laimes tagad var atdzīvināt stikla negatīvā saglabāts smaids? Varbūt pati studija ir atmiņu krātuve, nevis fotogrāfija?

❯ 12. martā, plkst. 18.30, – grāmatas atklāšana. Aerofotogrāfa Jura Kalniņa performance, veltīta nezināmajam Strenču fotostudijas apmeklētājam.
❯ 14. martā, plkst. 15.00–16.30, – saruna ar kinokritiķi Vadimu Agapovu "Total Strenči Recall" par fotografēšanu, “ilgo piemiņu” un fotostudiju dīvainību.
Saruna notiks krievu valodā.
❯ 19. martā, no plkst. 18.00 līdz 21.00 varēsiet iepazīties ar grāmatu un kopā ar tās veidotājiem Annu Volkovu un Vladimiru Svetlovu pareflektēt par fotogrāfijas lomu atmiņas saglabāšanā.

Galerijas darba laiks ārpus pasākumu programmas – ceturtdienās, plkst. 18.00–21.00. Mēneša pēdējā ceturtdienā – plkst. 18.00–22.00.
🀰 Uz pasākuma afišas – paneļa “Jūsu pārlūkprogramma ir ļoti novecojusi” fragments.

Приглашаем на презентацию книги «Rīgas 17, Strenči» и серию сопутствующих мероприятий «Место паломничества счастливых людей», которые пройдут в галерее Maxim Boxer Gallery (ул. Лачплеша, 48, Рига) с 12 марта по 26 марта.

Место паломничества счастливых людей.
Фотомастерская соперничает разве что с рестораном по числу важных событий, которые она отмечает. В 1910 – 1980-е годы фотомастерская в Стренчи принимала своих “паломников” преимущественно по счастливым поводам и ставила метки на их жизни черно-белыми изображениями. Что из этого счастья сейчас может воскресить улыбка на стеклянном негативе? Возможно, сама студия — вместилище воспоминаний, а не фотография?

❯ Четверг, 12 марта, 18:30
Презентация книги и перформанс аэрофотографа Юриса Калниньша, посвященный неизвестному посетителю фотостудии в Стренчи.
❯ Суббота, 14 марта, 15:00–16:30
Беседа с кинокритиком Вадимом Агаповым «Total Strenči Recall» о странностях фотографии на «долгую память».
Беседа пройдет на русском языке.
❯ Четверг, 19 марта, 18:00 – 21:00
Возможность познакомиться с книгой «Rīgas 17, Strenči» и поразмышлять о фотографии как инструменте памяти вместе с авторами книги — Анной Волковой и Владимиром Светловым.

Время работы галереи вне программы мероприятий – четверги 18:00 – 21:00. Последний четверг месяца 18:00 — 22:00.
🀰 На афише мероприятия фрагмент панно «Ваш броузер очень сильно устарел»

20/12/2025

BIPOLARIZED
is extended
till
03/01

15/10/2025

On the view: Semyon Khanin & Arturs Virtmanis | Bipolarized | 9.10 — 21.12

The funnel pulls us in. We gaze inside, trying to distinguish white from black, light from darkness. Before us is an optical and metaphysical apparatus staging the relativity of perception and the impossibility of consensus.

The work POLARCONE is a hollow metal cone, black on the outside, its white interior illuminated and fitted with polarizing filters. These filters reveal what the naked eye cannot see, yet in revealing the hidden, they also distort: we literally see white as black – the very metaphor this work is pursuing.

Polarization of light, like the polarization of opinions, prevents us from perceiving reality in full, imposing filters and blinders. Yet POLARCONE carries no straightforward message – it is a melancholic work, manifesting the difficulty of delivering meaning, and the ambiguity inherent in our own attempts to process the world without distortion.

SUPERNATURAL – a charcoal drawing that is both an attempt, and a demonstration of failure, to depict invisibility itself. The quest to address the metaphysical through matter: perhaps intriguing as a challenge, occasionally illuminating or entertaining, yet ultimately leading nowhere – we are left stranded on the surface of paper, smothered in carbon dust.
–––
Semyon Khanin and Arturs Virtmanis have collaborated before on performative interventions. For this exhibition, they come together in the “black cube” of Maxim Boxer Gallery, stepping into the hybrid role of artist – curator to stage a simulation of a bipolarly ambiguous worldview.
Semyon Khanin is a poet and multimedia artist whose practice dissolves the boundaries between text, object, sound, and performance.
Arturs Virtmanis is a multimedia artist, scenographer, and curator known for creating entropic spatial installations and charcoal drawings.

Creative producer: Alexander Bokser

*visit us on Thursdays 6pm-9pm or by making an appointment (+371 27851780)

28/04/2025

21/02/2025

We are pleased to announce that from February 21 to April 18, our gallery space will be transformed into an art residency, hosting the talented artist Ieva Stalšene for an eight-week creative process.

The final week of the residency will feature an exhibition showcasing the artist’s work in progress. Until then, visitors can get a glimpse of her creative journey by appointment.

*Appointments can be made by contacting the gallery or the artist on social media or via e-mail ([email protected])

03/10/2024

Exhibition “Hunger Games.District Riga” artist Kristians Brekte and curator Ieva Stalšene visited radio “NABA”. Listen online (LV)

Izstādes “Bada Spēles” mākslinieks Kristians Brekte un kuratore Ieva Stalšene viesojās radio “NABA” raidījumā par vizuāli mākslu “Subjektīvie mērījumi”. Saruna latviešu valodā.

Galerijā "Maxim Boxer Gallery" Lāčplēša ielā 48 no 24. septembra līdz 14. novembrim skatāma Kristiana Brektes personālizstāde “Bada spēles”. Izstādes kuratore ir Ieva Stalšene. Bada spēlēs “piedalās” Rīgas bomži, ko Kristians jau 10 gadus dokumentē akvareļu gleznās, him....

26/09/2024

Don't miss it! Kristians Brekte exhibition "Hunger Games. District Riga" is OPEN! Curator: Ieva Stalšene.
Photos by Maris Morkans.