Krišjānis Beļavskis (b. 1999, Riga, Latvia) works across sculpture, installation, and text. His practice includes theatrical, reality show-like elements and can be seen as parasitical (to borrow the term from the curator Matthew Post) not in a cynical way but rather a speculative one.
Recent projects include: 1. selecting a participant through an open call who has to sit in the studio and observe Beļavskis working. Paying them €10.00 an hour – the average gross hourly wage in Latvia (as of end of 2023). 2. Holding an auction and selling five of his workdays in the form of a USB flash drive. 3. Hiring an artist assistant and dedicating a person-specific artwork to them. If the piece is ever sold, they will receive a share of the proceeds. With an ever-shifting goal, Beļavskis tries to develop new parasitical approaches to see where they might lead him in sculpture.
Since 2017 he has participated in several group exhibitions and performances in Latvia, Germany, Austria, Hungary and the UK. Beļavskis holds a BA in arts from the Sculpture department in the Art Academy of Latvia. He spent two semesters studying at Art Academy of Munich (ADBK München) class led by Peter Kogler and finished his studies at POST, an interdisciplinary MA program. Recipient of SPOT Exchange award 2025 at Das Weisse Haus, Vienna.