skuja braden
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biography
Skuja Braden, pseudonym of the international collaborative duo Ingūna Skuja (Latvia) and Melissa D. Braden (USA), they live and work together in riga, latvia. The artists, who represented Latvia in the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, have been working in tandem for more than two decades, achieving an extraordinary craftsmanship in the complex medium of porcelain. Dense with multiple meanings and saturated with humor and wit, their elaborate sculptures populate an exuberant universe that amalgamates queer and feminist perspectives, autobiographical and cross-cultural references, transhistorical and political concerns.
selected exhibitions
skuja braden represented latvia in the 59th venice biennale (2022) and has taken part of the GUANGZHOU TRIENNIAL, GUANGDONG MUSEUM, GUANGZHOU (2023). their work as been exhibited internationally in solo exhibitions such as Karaköy, Istanbul (2023); VV Foundation, Pavilosta (2022); Rīga’s Porcelain Museum, Rīga (2013); Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland (2009); Museum of History and Art, Aizkraukle (2017, 2010, 2006).
their work has been included in several group exhibitions as pera museum, istanbul (2023); Latvian national museum, riga (2023); zuzeum, riga (2023); whitechapel gallery, london (2022); museumlv, riga (2020); latvian contemporary art center, riga (2019); international teapot exhibition, shanghai (2017); WESTERWALD KERAMIKE MUSEUM, Höhr-Grenzhausen (2016); RIGA’S PORCELAIN MUSEUM, RIGA (2016); FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI, VENICE (2015).
public collections
skuja braden’s work is in many permanent collections, including those of Kistefos museum, jevnaker; latvian national museum of art, riga; museum of decorative arts and design, riga; riga porcelain museum, riga; changchun international ceramic center, changchu; daugavpils clay art center, daugavpils and zuzeum art centre, riga.
shows at kaufmann repetto
pardon my body, 2023, kaufmann repetto new york
strange bargain, 2023, kaufmann repetto milan
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Skuja Braden is an international artist collaboration formed in 1999 between Ingūna Skuja (b. 1965, Latvia) and Melissa Braden (b. 1968, California, USA). They live and work together in Riga.
Selected solo exhibitions
2023
Strange Bargain, kaufmann repetto, Milan
Pardon My Body, kaufmann repetto, New York
Open Closet, Root, Karaköy, Istanbul
2022
Selling Water by the River, Latvian Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice
Feast Your Eyes, PAiR, Pavilosta Artists in Residency, VV Foundation, Pavilosta
Transcendental Traveler, Roja L. Art, Film, and Music Festival, Roja
Samsara, ARS28 Gallery, Zurich
2020
Samsara, Kalna Ziedi Museum, Aizkraukle
Samsara, Design and Decorative Art Museum, Rīga
2017
Tripping Through Time, Madona Museum, Madona
Angels and Demons, Aizkraukle Art and History Museum
Curve Increased, Ars Panevesyz, Keramike Center, Panevezys
2016
Susuktas Augimas Biržai Regional Museum Sēla, Biržai
Medusa’s Laughter, Bastejs Galerija, Rīga
Twisted Growth, G. Eliasa Jelgava History and Art Museum, Jelgava
Skuja Braden, 1616 Artspace Gallery, Sacramento
2015
Lost and Found, Birža Museum, Riga
Mana Jubilee, Kalna Ziedi Museum, Aizkraukle
Tete-a-tete, Liepaja Design and Art School, Liepaja
2014
Fishing for Meaning, Roja’s Marine Fisheries Museum, Roja
2013
A Dog’s Life: Unchained, Rīga’s Porcelain Museum, Rīga
Skuja Braden Laiks Pasaciņai, Laipa Galerija, Valmiera
Mana Aizkraukle: Skuja Braden, Kalna Ziedi Museum, Aizkraukle
Skuja Braden Stāsta, Bastejs Galerija, Rīga
2012
Laced Porcelain, Čsipske Museum, Kiskunhalas
2011
Sweet Kiss, Mans’s Gallery Jekabpils
Beyond Black and White, Galerija Putti, Riga
2010
Karma Koma, Makslas XO Galerija, Riga
Karma Koma, Aizkraukle Museum of History and Art
2009
Puzzling Skuja Braden, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland
2008
Dowry: The Business of Marriage, Pence Gallery, Davis
Supercrock, Memorial Union Hall, OSU, Corvallis
Bloodlines, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis
2006
Born in the Summerhouse, Museum of History and Art, Aizkraukle
2005
Skuja Braden Babies, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis
2003
The Inevitability of Change, Sol Ceramica Gallery, Sacramento
2001
Evening Treasures, Putti Gallery, Riga
Kaila Patiesiba, Makslas XO Galerija, Riga
1999
Head-Lamps, Salon Maksla, Riga
Here Kitty, Kitty! , Ciris Gallery, Riga
1998
The Best of Skuja, Gallery Salons Maksla, Riga
Ten Women, Ciris Gallery, Riga, Latvia
Landscapes in Transition, The Center Gallery, Eureka
Naked Truth, INK People Center for the Arts, Eureka
1997
Skuja For Sale $9.50, M6 Gallery, Riga
Hares and Eggs!, A/S Unibanka, Riga
1996
Recycled Dreams, Foyer Gallery, HSU, Arcata
Love Triangle, Latvian Art Union Gallery, Riga
1995
Easter Day, Riga’s Gallery, Riga
1993
Inguna Skuja’s Porcelain, Jana Seta Gallery, Riga
Selected group exhibitions
2023
Souvenirs of the Future, Pera Museum, Istanbul
Just Don’t Cry, Tikai Neraudi, Latvian National Museum, Riga
Embrace, Eduard Grizans curator, Zuzeum, Riga
Raža, Jurmala Museum, Jurmala
Apple Of My Eye, Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou
2022
Es Text, Latvian National Museum, Rīga
The Travel Bureau, Christen Sveass collection, White Chapel Gallery, London
Purviša Balva/ The Purvitis Prize, Latvian National Museum, Rīga
Normal Cake Please!, Performance, Anglican Church, Riga
2020
We aim to live! Grand Opening of Janis Zuzāns Collection: Zuzeum, Rīga
Two July’s, Gulbene Muzeum, Gulbene
Grata Balva 2020, MuseumLV, Rīga
Five Years in 50+1 Voices, 1616 ArtSpace, Sacramento
2019
Today is our Tomorrow, Latvian Contemporary Art Center, Helsinki
Survival Kit: OutLands 10.1, Latvian Contemporary Art Center, Rīga
2018
Black, Rīga’s Plaze Exhibition Hall, Rīga
Three-some Show, Karen19 Gallery, Gold Coast
2017
White ZK-9 Latvian Contemporary Designers, Galerija Laipa, Valmeira
Chicken, Hen, and Cock, International Teapot Exhibition, Shanghai
2016
JAUNU(iem), Bastejs Galerija, Old Rīga
Take a Look, Glass Gallery Take a Look, Riga
Modern Classics/ Focus Vase: Forderpreiss 2016, Westerwald Keramike Museum
Parallel Currents, Rīga’s Porcelain Museum, Riga
Start Art Fair, Saatchi’s Gallery, London
White, Latvian Contemporary Designers, Pop-Up: Riga’s Galerija, Rīga
2016
5th International Changchun Ceramic Symposium Exhibition, Changchun
International Art Fair Warsaw, National Stadium, Warsaw
1rst International Latvian Ceramic Biennale, Martinsons Award Daugavpils
Contemporary Latvian Ceramics, Latvian Art Union, Riga
Journey Through Eastern Europe, Ichon World Ceramic Center, Gyeonggi Province
2015
Gadu Makslinieki, Rīga
SCOPE/ Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Florida
GOBIS/OUTDOOR EXPO, Rīgas Porcelain Museum, Vilnius
Art Market Budapest, Budapest
Art Copenhagen, Copenhagen
Map of the New Art, Luciano Benetton’s Imago Mundi Coll., Fondazione Giorgio Cini ,Venice
Sexy Art, 19 Karen Gallery, Queensland
Contemporary Latvian Ceramics, Rothko Museum, Daugavpils
Unpacked, ArtSpace 1616, Sacramento, California
Erotic Clay, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2014
European Ceramic Context 2014, Bornholm Museum, Bornholm
3rd Changchun Int’l Ceramic Symposium, Changchun Sculpture Museum, Changchun
RojaL Kino and Makslas festival, Skuja Braden show in Museum. Roja
Clay Provocateurs, Pence Gallery, Davis, California
Imago Mundi Latvia, Luciano Benetton Collection, Riga
2013
Peter Martinson and Contemporary Ceramics Latvia, Art and History Museum, Vitebsk
8th International Small Forms Triennale, Rīga’s Porcelain Museum, Old Rīga
Underwater War, Talsi Museum, Talsi
Skuja Braden, Bastejs Galerija, Rīga
Daugava, Aizkraukle Art and History Museum
Berlin Art Week,Berlin
LandEscape Afterwards, Daugavpils Clay Art Center, Daugavpils
LandEscape Forward, Mark Rothko Museum & Art Center, Daugavpils
FEMAIL PROJECT, ARTicle Gallery, Birmingham
Downlands College 3rd Annual Invitational, Toowoomba
Garden of Destiny Charity Auction, Large Guild House, Rīga
Plates and Totems, Blue Line Arts, Roseville
Latvian National Art Museum’s Recent Acquisitions Exhibition, Rīga
Aizkraukles 45 Year Jubilee, Aizkraukles Museum Art and History, Aizkraukle
2012
Rudens, Latvian Artist Union, Rīga
Ceramic Annual of America, Fort Mason, San Francisco
Truth, Myth, and Bullshit, Yvonne Gerner, Danish Cultural Institute, Rīga
Zvaigznes, Rīgas Porcelain Museum, Rīga
2011
Rudens, Rīgaš Telpa, Rīga
Re-Novacija, Latvias Museum of Design Decorative Arts, Rīga
Royal Art and Film Festival, Roja’s Culture Center, Roja
Sieviete T-Elpa, Riga
Beyond Black and White, Russian National Library, St. Petersburg
2010
Small Scale Porcelain Triennale, Rīga’s Porcelain Museum, Rīga
Sitka Center Annual Art Invitational, World Forestry Center, Portland
Makslas Optimizacija, Museum of Applied and Decorative Art, Riga
My Erotic Valentine, Beet Gallery, Portland
2009
V Int’l Ceramic Tile Triennial, Museum of Contemporary Ceramics, Santo Domingo
Sitka Center Annual Art Invitational, World Forestry Center, Portland
Little Crimes, Latvian Art Academy, Riga
Art On the Vine, OCAC Art Auction, Convention Center, Portland
Intime, Museum of Applied and Decorative Art, Riga, Latvia
2008
Sitka Center Annual Art Invitational, World Forestry Center, Portland
Human Impulse, Sandy & Diane Bessor Collection, ASU Museum. Tempe
17th Annual National, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo
2007
World Women on the Horizon, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore
Handmade for the Holiday, Contemporary Craft Museum. Portland
5th Cheongju INTL Craft Biennale, Cheongju-do City
2006
By the Hand, National Juried Exhibition, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek
Feats of Clay, Gladding McBean Factory, Lincoln
16th National Ceramic Competition, San Angelo Museum, San Angelo
Thirty Sculptors, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California
Ink and Clay ‘32, Kellogg University Art Gallery, Cal Poly, Pomona
2005
SOFA Chicago, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis
Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju-city
30 Sculptors, CCACA John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis
Ink and Clay ‘31, Kellogg University Art Gallery, Cal Poly, Pomona
2004
SOFA Chicago, represented by John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis
Thirty Sculptors, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis
Excellence In Ceramics, Exploding Head Gallery, Sacramento
Gigantic Figurines, Kirkland Art Center, Kirkland
2003
Cuillere Ceramique, Prix De La Ville De Carouge, Carouge Museum, Geneva
East Meets West, Historic Fong Mansion, Sacramento
Competition of the Fork, Fork It Magazine, Uptown Studios. Sacto
Cheongju Intn’l Craft Biennale, Cheongju-do
Erotic or Not, Uptown Studios Gallery, Sacramento
Contemporary Latvian Ceramics, Kuressaare Castle Museum, Saaremaa
Tits and Ass, Uptown Studios Gallery, Sacramento
2002
Vessel’s, Mirror Pond Gallery, Bend, Oregon
Flowing Vessels, Gardo’s Gallery, Bridgeport, Penn
Fragile Handle With Care, Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacto
Birds of Clay, Frog Hollow, Middlebury
Ink and Clay ‘29, Kellogg’s Art Gallery, CalPoly University, Pomona
2001
Antins, Arsenals Museum, Riga
Art In The Air, airBaltic Corporate Collection, Applied Art Museum, Riga
The 1rst World Ceramic Biennale 2001, Ichon
Nordic Baltic Fabula Exhibition, The Art Center, Silkeborg
Bryggens Museum, Bergen, Norway. Applied Arts Museum, Tallinn
1999
1rst International Erotica Exhibition, Kipsala Hall, Riga
1rst International Floristica Exhibition, Dailes Theatre, Riga
15 Artists from Latvia, Gallery J&B, Copenhagen
Latvian Academy of Art Exhibition, MS Gallery, Riga
1998
Advancing Sculpture, Reese-Bullen Gallery, Arcata
Art Of Contemporary Latvia, Maison du Danemark, Paris
The 2nd World Latvian Artists Exhibition, Riga
Ritums Ivanovs and Inguna Skuja, Cesis Museum, Cesis
1997
Maksla Mode Muzika, Latvian Art Union Gallery, Riga
The World’s 5TH Triennale in Plastics, Zagreb
Art of Contemporary Latvia, Grande Salle de l’Aubette, Strasbourg
Better Off Dead Than Little Red, Van Duzer Theater, Arcata
1rst Annual Women Make Art, Ink People Center for the Arts, Eureka
Amazing, Center Gallery, Riga
1996
European Women, Gallery Shambala, Copenhagen
ArtGenda, European Cultural City, Copenhagen
Annual Juried Student Exhibition, Humboldt State Univ., Arcata
Maris D. Bensons Advanced Sculptors, R. Bullen Gallery, Arcata
1995
Baltic States Ceramic Triennial, Vilnius
Herbstmesse, International Mess of Frankfurt, Frankfurt
Artist In Residence, (Inguna Skuja Invited Artist) Kecskemet
Drawings from Nature, Natural History Museum, Arcata
1994
100th Anniversary of Art from the Baltic, Malmo
International Exhibition of Practical Art, Blue Hall, Tallinn
public collections
Aizkraukles History and Art Museum, Aizkraukle
ASU Art Museum, Tempe
Bornholms Museum, Rønne
Changchun International Ceramic Center, Changchu
Danish Cultural Institute
Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils
Daugavpils Clay Art Center, Daugavpils
Gulbenē Art Museum, Gulbenē
International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemet
Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker
Art Academy of Latvia, Riga
Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga
Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Riga
Museo de la Cerámica Contemporánea, Santo Domingo
Museum für Kommunikation, Frankfurt
Riga Porcelain Museum, Riga
Roja Marine Fisheries Museum, Roja
Biržai Region Museum “Sėla”, Biržai
Museum für Sepulkralkultur, Kassel
Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation
Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka
Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Höhr-Grenzhausen
Zuzeum Art Centre, Riga