Arnis Balčus (born 1978) is a Latvian photography and video artist. Born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, Balčus lived and worked in his home town before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2004. He took an MA course on photography at

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

from 2004 to 2005. He is exhibiting his work since 1994, but emerged internationally in 2003 with the photographic series ''Myself, Friends, Lovers and Others''. Using

snapshot aesthetic A snapshot is a photograph that is "shot" spontaneously and quickly, most often without artistic or journalistic intent and usually made with a relatively cheap and compact camera. Common snapshot subjects include the events of everyday life, ...

the series were showing the everyday life of contemporary Latvian youth. The series had numerous solo shows, for instance, at Giedre Bartelt gallery, Berlin (2003), Overgaden, Copenhagen (2003), Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna (2004), State Museum of Art, Riga (2004) and Matthew Bown Gallery, London (2005). In 2020 the series were published as a

photobook A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book. Early Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...

by ''dieNacht Publishing'' in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Germany. Since 2008 most of his photographic work has been related to Latvian identity, historical taboos and social-political agendas. In 2009 Arnis Balčus showed his series ''Amnesia'' at Riga Art Space. In the photographs he was staging various social rituals that have disappeared from the everyday life in

due to political and economical changes in the past thirty years. The exhibition traveled to

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

. In the series ''Latvian Notes'' he has been exploring the everyday life in Latvia. This research is focused on Latvian society through the perspective of collective rituals and public space. The series ''Victory Park'' grappled with questions on Otherness – and more specifically, in the context of Latvia’s complex relationship with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and

Russian culture Russian culture ( rus, Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii, kʊlʲˈturə rɐˈsʲiɪ) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and both Eastern cultu ...

. In 2014 the series were shown at

Street Level Photoworks A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like streetlights or benches. A street ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and Mūkusala Art Centre in

. In 2016 the series were released as a photobook by Brave Books in Berlin. Brave Books The series ''Beyond The Blue River'' are related to the

Zilupe Zilupe ( Latgalian: ''Sīnuoja'', from ''sīna'' – 'border'; German: ''Rosenau'', ) is a town in Ludza Municipality, in the Latgale region of Latvia, by the Zilupe River, on the border with Russia. The population in 2020 was 1,343. Zilupe's ra ...

region in

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

, which on an everyday basis is characterized as economically unstable and politically disloyal to Latvia. In his video works he addresses issues of

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

and

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

. His video ''Xionel'' (2004) features a confession by a beautiful Asian

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

, while ''Balcus' Latvia 1989-91'' is a photo story created of artist's family snapshots from the time Latvia regained its independence from

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. For the past few years Balčus has been attending and documenting the local latvian punk youth. These pictures and videos can be viewed on his social media. Balčus' work has also been published in various art and lifestyle magazines, such as Black and White Magazine,

Dazed & Confused (magazine) ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

, Flash Art Magazine, Soul Mag, Achtung Mode and many more. From January 2011 he is the chief editor of the main Latvian photography magazine - FK Magazine. He is a co-founder and director of Riga Photomonth that runs since 2014.

References

External links

Arnis Balčus websiteArnis Balčus Photo Blog FK MagazineContemporary Art Museum ProjectArnis Balčus VideosArnis Balčus on Nofound
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balcus, Arnis 1978 births Living people Latvian video artists Latvian photographers Alumni of the University of Westminster Artists from Riga University of Latvia alumni