Kim? Contemporary Art Centre is pleased to announce participation in the Esther art fair, taking place in the Estonian House in New York, with new works by Latvian artists Indriķis Ģelzis and Viktor Timofeev. 

 

Esther
Estonian House in New York
243 East 34th Street, Manhattan, New York
Preview: May 6
Dates: May 7–May 10

 

Reserve your free ticket here. If you are interested in attending preview on Tuesday May 6, please let us know.

 

Esther, an alternative model for gallery collaboration beyond the traditional art fair, was founded by Olga Temnikova from the gallery Temnikova & Kasela in Tallinn and Margot Samel from the eponymous gallery in New York. Taking place in the historical Estonian House in New York Esther brings together the art projects of twenty-five international galleries and in a common environment, offers an alternative to the usual ways of showing and experiencing art and thereby challenges the traditional art fair model.

 

Kim? is participating in the Esther art fair for the second time—this year representing Latvian artist Indriķis Ģelzis and New York-based Latvian artist Viktor Timofeev. Indriķis Ģelzis’s Three Square Sand Knots and Four Sky Knots stage a material meditation on uncertainty and unresolved tension. The artist describes his works as small attempts to hold things together through pulled, twisted combinations of metal, paint, veneer, and fabric. The Sky Knots emerge from an atmosphere saturated with static and anxious energy, while The Sand Knots gesture toward a futile desire for clarity and order. Rather than offering resolution, Ģelzis lets the twisted forms speak—of fragility, resistance, and the invisible systems that bind and shape our world. Viktor Timofeev presents two newly created works referencing his exhibition Other Passengers currently on view at the Latvian National Museum of Art. Depicting a spectral village at dawn and dusk, the scenes turn architecture into a stage for memory, myth, and imagined belonging—extending his exploration of psychological landscapes and speculative inner worlds.

 

Indriķis Ģelzis (1988) lives and works in Riga, Latvia. He analyzes personal experience, as well as memories and art history, using three-dimensional models for bringing together and abstracting information which seemingly makes up a pattern of data but does not in fact yield itself to comprehension. Ģelzis’ research ends up assuming the form of plane and freestanding objects/figures, welded, bent and cut in the artist’s studio. Ģelzis holds an MA in Visual Communication from the Art Academy of Latvia and a postgraduate degree from HISK – Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium. Recent solo and duo exhibitions include shows at Polina Berlin Gallery, New York (2024); Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga (2023); Jenny’s, New York (2022); Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (2022); Castor, London (2020); CINNAMON, Rotterdam (2019); and ASHES/ASHES, New York (2019). Selected group exhibitions include shows at Tatjana Pieters, Ghent (2020); Union Pacific, London (2018); and Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2018).

 

His works are included in the collections of Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga (LV); Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest (RO); S.M.A.K. – The Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent (BE); The Lewben Art Foundation, Vilnius (LT); CELINE Art Project, Paris (FR); Paul Thiers Collection, Waregem (BE); Alain Servais Family Collection, Brussels (BE); Antoine De Werd Collection, The Hague (NL); Tanguy Van De Weghe Collection, Otegem (BE); Francis Vanhoonacker Collection, Kortrijk (BE); Frédéric de Goldschmidt Collection, Brussels (BE); BTA Art Collection, Riga (LV); Colin Fernandes Collection, New York (US); and the Zuzāns Private Collection, Riga (LV).

 

Viktor Timofeev (1984) is a multidisciplinary artist from Riga, Latvia currently living between Riga and New York, whose practice explores the intersections of inner worlds, language, bureaucracy, and individual experience within broader social and cultural systems, spanning painting, drawing, video, and installation. Drawing from personal and societal perspectives, his work examines themes of identity, migration, and communication across borders. He organizes monthly events that include screenings, performances and sensory deprivation listening sessions at No Moon, an event space in Brooklyn he co-founded in 2018. Timofeev also hosts a show on Montez Press Radio called Sibling Gardens. He received his MFA at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam and his BFA at Hunter College in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include shows at the Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga (2025); Gallery 427, Riga (2024); Interstate Projects, New York (2021); and Karlin Studios / Futura, Prague (2020). Group exhibitions include shows at the Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson (2025); Tallinn Photomonth (2023); Digital Intimacy at the National Gallery, Prague (2021); and the 14th Baltic Triennial at the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2021).

 

His work is included in the collections of the Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga (LV); Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź (PL); Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö (SE); BTA Art Collection, Vilnius (LT); Pekelné Sáně Collection, Prague (CZ); Van Den Valentyn Foundation, Cologne (DE); and the Weissman Family Collection, New York (US).

 

Esther participants:

 

BANK, Shanghai/New York (CN/US)
BWA Warszawa, Warsaw (PL)
Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City (VN)
Hagiwara Projects, Tokyo (JP)
ILY2, Portland (US)
Ivan, Bucharest (RO)
James Fuentes, New York/Los Angeles (US)
Kim? Gallery, Riga (LV)
Kogo Gallery, Tartu (EE)
Laurel Gitlen, New York (US)
Layr, Vienna (AT)
Longtermhandstand, Budapest (HU)
Margot Samel, New York (US)
Misako & Rosen, Tokyo (JP)
Mrs., New York (US)
Pangée, Montreal (CA)
Post Times, New York (US)
Sargent’s Daughters, New York (US)
sans titre, Paris (FR)
SARA’S, New York (US)
sentiment, Zurich (CH)
Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna (AT)
Tara Downs, New York (US)
Temnikova & Kasela, Tallinn (EE)
Triangolo, Cremona (IT)

 

Esther in the media: Artsy, ARTnews, Artnet, The Art Newspaper, Ocula, Financial Times, Surface Mag.

 

Contact: darta.purvlice@kim.lv

 

Supported by: Latvian Ministry of Culture