Jānis Straupe is "Purvītis Prize" nominee 2025, with work “Pendulum” from the solo exhibition “Non-things” at the LNMM Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (28 January–26 March 2023).

 

Justification for the nomination:

“The central work of Jānis Straupe’s solo exhibition, ‘Pendulum,’ convinces through its laconic clarity and grandeur. Placed in the apse of the museum, the 12-meter-long kinetic object is the most technically complex of the works and stands out not only for its scale but—crucially—also for its complete departure from imagery and any references to functionality. The artist has endowed the monumental form of ‘Pendulum’ with movement that clearly resonates with the tension of our time—the currently felt sense of the world’s changeability and instability. Over 40 years, Straupe has combined a perfected craft practice in working with wood with conceptual and spatial thinking, creating a surprising, convincing, and contemporary work of art,” evaluates Arta Vārpa.

 

“The visual language of the large-scale kinetic sculpture ‘Pendulum’ aptly reveals the general uncertainty of our time, current geopolitical and socio-economic collisions, and the sense of constant change and a vanishing balance in society,” adds Māris Vītols.