• Artworks
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Rome, 2017 Acrylic on canvas 21 x 24 in. 53.3 x 61 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Rome, 2017
      Acrylic on canvas
      21 x 24 in.
      53.3 x 61 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Early Blue, 2021 Acrylic on canvas 12 x 27 1/2 in. 30.5 x 69.9 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Early Blue, 2021
      Acrylic on canvas
      12 x 27 1/2 in.
      30.5 x 69.9 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Swimmer's Nest VII, 2022 Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 in. 30.5 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Swimmer's Nest VII, 2022
      Acrylic on canvas
      12 x 12 in.
      30.5 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Matte, 2022 Acrylic on canvas 18 x 12 in. 45.7 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Matte, 2022
      Acrylic on canvas
      18 x 12 in.
      45.7 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Five Flowers Five, 2022 Acrylic on canvas 53 x 58 in. 134.6 x 147.3 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Five Flowers Five, 2022
      Acrylic on canvas
      53 x 58 in.
      134.6 x 147.3 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Silhouette, 2023 Acrylic on canvas 20 x 12 in. 50.8 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Silhouette, 2023
      Acrylic on canvas
      20 x 12 in.
      50.8 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Swimmers Nest II, 2022 Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 in. 30.5 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Swimmers Nest II, 2022
      Acrylic on canvas
      12 x 12 in.
      30.5 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Fragments V, 2024 Acrylic on canvas 19 3/4 x 12 in. 50.2 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Fragments V, 2024
      Acrylic on canvas
      19 3/4 x 12 in.
      50.2 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Swimmers Nest III, 2022 Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 in. 30.5 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Swimmers Nest III, 2022
      Acrylic on canvas
      12 x 12 in.
      30.5 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris The Wall II, 2024 Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 in. 30.5 x 30.5 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      The Wall II, 2024
      Acrylic on canvas
      12 x 12 in.
      30.5 x 30.5 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Aria, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Aria, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Daphne, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Daphne, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Hekate, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Hekate, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Koronis, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Koronis, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Kyrene, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Kyrene, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Manto, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Manto, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Marpessa, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Marpessa, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Ourea, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Ourea, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Rhetia, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Rhetia, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Rhoio, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Rhoio, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Sibylla, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Sibylla, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Stilbe, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 x 5 3/4 in. 22.9 x 14.6 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Stilbe, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 x 5 3/4 in.
      22.9 x 14.6 cm.
    • Vidvuds Zviedris Syllis, 2024 Watercolor on paper 9 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. 24.8 x 26 cm.
      Vidvuds Zviedris
      Syllis, 2024
      Watercolor on paper
      9 3/4 x 10 1/4 in.
      24.8 x 26 cm.
  • Biography

    With broad, gestural strokes, contemporary painter Vidvuds Zveidris transforms the canvas into a minefield of explosive color. Zveidris covers every inch of available surface by criss-crossing and overlapping bands of acrylic paint. The scale of Zveidris' work bears an immediacy and monumentality that can be most readily described as sublime.

    In a dizzying mixture of allusions to the natural world and to art historical canon, Zveidris elicits a transcendent beauty through his powerfully dynamic brushstrokes, making use of a full spectrum of contrasting colors. Comparisons to abstract expressionists of the mid-20th century like Helen Frankenthaler or Morris Louis might initially spring to mind as Zveidris wields a masterfully cool and controlled hand over the materials and the surface of the canvas. Perhaps more similar to Gustav Klimt's gilded forests of birch trees, Zveidris' landscape paintings are neither fully figurative nor fully abstract. As in the experience of being between one's dreams and waking life, Zveidris' work feels both real and illusory simultaneously, with figures dancing in and out of the picture plane. In several paintings, bodies seem to emerge just as quickly as they disappear behind layers of geometric pattern and long, thick stripes of paint. With the expansiveness of the works' scale, this dance plays out over and over again in a symphony of color and undefined, unrestrained, unexplored depths.

    Zviedris states "My paintings are continuous exploration of possibilities within the tradition of painting. They are part landscapes, part deliberate selection of my subconscious. It is through heavy layering and sanding that these images reveal themselves and are just as much about the end result as they are about the process. By constantly removing layer upon layer each painting retains and loses its own history gradually arriving at a harmonious resolution and gets entrapped in its final image. My goal is painting done without conscious effort, image that arises by balancing all that I know and have learned versus pure instinct."

  • CV

    Lives and works in Riga, Latvia

    EDUCATION

    BFA, Center for Creative Studies Collage of Art and Design, Detroit, MI

    SOLO EXHIBITIONS

    2022
    Sonnet, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2021
    Swimmer's Nest, Museum of Talsi, Talsi, Latvia
    Swimmer's Nest, Lipke Memorial Museum, Riga, Latvia
    2018
    Old Cities & Ancient Walls, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2016
    Lunar Sea, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2013
    New Paintings, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2012
    Moon and Cypress, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2010
    Butterflies Dance, Museum of Talsi, Talsi, Latvia
    Nocturne Vulgaire, Artspace II, Birmingham, MI
    2009
    PC-4, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2008
    Summer of the 26th of September, Alma Gallery, Riga, Latvia
    2006
    New Works, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2005
    Espana, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2004
    Visions Fugitives, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2003
    Ella, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL

    GROUP EXHIBITIONS

    2017
    Struck Off Center, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, NY
    2016
    Chicago Paints, University of Ohio, Athens, OH
    2012
    Summer Selections, Spanierman Modern, New York, NY
    Gallery Selections, Spanierman Modern, New York, NY
    2011
    Art Verona, Verona, Italy, Studio Legale, Caserta, Italy
    ContemporarartNOW!, Studio Legale at Intragallery, Naples, Italy
    2010
    Well Put Together II, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2009
    Dirty Dozen, McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
    2004
    In the Summer, Haley Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA
    2003
    Paint Junkies, Michael Martin Gallery, San Francisco, CA
    2000
    New Paintings by Vidvuds Zviedris & Deborah Danelson, Creative Resource Fine
    Art Gallery, Birmingham, MI

    PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

    David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, NC
    University of DePaul, School of Music, Chicago, IL
    Tisch Library at Tufts University, Medford, MA
    University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Champaign, IL
    National Library of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
    Ryerson & Burnham Library at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

    GRANTS AND AWARDS

    2015
    Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant
    2018
    DCASE Grant
    2021
    KKF, Latvian Ministry of Culture Grant

    Download Zviedris CV