Elza Sile: Baby Love

We are proud to present the third solo exhibition by Latvian-born, Zurich-based artist Elza Sile. The exhibition is about a post/pre-art situation, imagining how an art practice might emerge after a collapse of the institutionalized and hierarchical art world. As heterogeneous as the objects in the exhibition are, they all share a perceived affinity with ritual. It is a condition in which art no longer (yet?) exists for art's sake, when it ceases to be the free self-expression of the individual or a tool of social critique. The idea of art as a defined creative practice and a statement of social status is a relatively recent arrival in Western culture and the exhibition proposes a return to the state of art before this idea was born. Given the apocalyptic situation of the exhibition, one could argue that it is also art after art. The notion of authorship has been forgotten, the myth of genius swept away, as have the criteria of craftsmanship, individual style and creativity. Art regains its original function as a cult, or an object of everyday life. Elza Sile's exhibition titled Baby Love is an experiment in thought and material about art beyond the accepted definition of art – it is a return to the origins of culture, in order to model possible future scenarios. Text by Jana Kukaine (assistant professor and lead researcher at Riga Stradins University, philosopher, art critic and historian)

Sile was born 1989, in Latvia and lives in Zurich. In 2019, Sile graduated from ZHdK Zurich. Recent solo exhibitions include at Latvia National Museum of Art (2025); PHILIPPZOLLINGER (Zurich, 2025, 2023 & 2021); Embajada (Puerto Rico, 2023); KIM? Contemporary Art Center (Riga, 2022); unanimous consent (Zurich, 2020) and Kulturfolger Zürich (2020). She has participated in numerous two-person and group shows, such as at Diez (Amsterdam, 2023); Jenny's (New York, 2022); Centre d'art Pasquart (Biel, 2022); Haus Konstruktiv (Zurich, 2022); Misako & Rosen (Tokyo, 2022); KIM? Contemporary Art Center (Riga, 2020); Kunsthalle Zurich (2020); Hamlet (Zurich, 2020) and Galerie Kirchgasse (Steckborn, 2020). In 2020, Sile was a receipiant of the Werkschau Prize Zurich and in 2021, of the art stipend City of Zurich. In 2022, Sile completed a residency at ISCP New York.