Juris Utans

Grasshopper. Paper, mixed media, 21x30 cm

2020

Juris Utans (1959-2022) was a Latvian painter. Worked in the field of critical realism, socially active and political art. Juris Utans' works are characterized by humor and irony about current, resonating events in society. He represented the direction of contemporary art, known as reportage art. In 1984, he graduated from the painting department of the Art Academy of Latvia. Studied in the masters Eduards Kalnins and Boris Berzins workshop. Member of the Artists' Union of Latvia since 1985. Personal exhibitions in Latvia and abroad. In 1994, he obtained a master's degree in pedagogy at the University of Warsaw. The most important personal exhibitions in Latvia 2012. "Utans paints and wins" in the exhibition hall of the Latvian National Art Museum "Arsenāls"; 2013/2014 "Flai - Letalka - Fly" in Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center; 2016. "Invasion" in Mukusala Art Salon. The artist, in parallel with his professional activity, was a teaching staff of the University of Latvia from 1987 (since 2015, associate professor in visual plastic arts). Juris Utans also worked as a designer of stamps and coins. The artist's painting "Stop" is currently in the new permanent exhibition of the Latvian National Art Museum, in the Latvian Art 1985-2000 section.