Jana Brike was born in year 1980 in Riga, Latvia.

She has studied academical painting in the Art Academy of Latvia and received M.A. degree in year 2005.

Her work has been exhibited internationally in professional venues since 1996 while she was still a young teenager, and since then she has had 15 solo exhibitions and more than100 other projects and group exhibitions all over the world.

Her main interest is visual art with a strong narrative and depiction of a figure, mostly using the traditional medium of oil painting on canvas. She has also explored other mediums like drawing, animation, mixed media sculpture, installation and digital art.

The main focus of Jana Brike's art is the internal space and state of a human soul - dreams, longing, love, pain, the vast range of emotions that human condition offers and the transcendence of them all, the growing up and self-discovery. Her work is her poetic visual auto-biography.

"Jana Brike’s artwork is a metaphor for that inner soulspace where human experiences, emotions, revelations and storytelling take place. It is also a metaphor of the primordial home where you can be free, wild and happy, and where life through its trials and tribulations is taking you back, transformed into a new huger form, back into a newfound yet inherent innocence.

For Brike innocence means living with openhearted immediacy. It is living out your wildest dreams. It is courage, it is true freedom that is not mistaken just for little liberties, and it is the ability to truly experience love that is not mistaken for living in illusions about another. And at the same time it is to play, enjoying the moment with fully open senses like there is no tomorrow. It means to stop trying to squeeze your huge shining supernova of a heart into those little gray boxes that are marked with “what we expect of you” or “appropriateness” and so on by society, and living a full life of full experiences.

These visual poems blend together the beauty and cruelty of life, its preciousness and fleetingness, lushness and decay, birth and death and the bittersweetness that comes through aware witnessing of it all."


- by Vinyl on Vinyl gallery

Full artist bio:

Name: Jana Brike
Born: August 29, 1980

Education
2003 – 2005 Art Academy of Latvia, painting department, master course
Figurative painting Master class,Professors K.Zariņš, N.Brasliņš, J.Jurjāns
1999 – 2003 Art Academy of Latvia, painting department, bachelor course
1991 - 1998 J.Rozental Riga Art secondary school

Major exhibitions
2023
• "Art Collectors Starter Kit" annual group exhibition in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Daydream" group exhibition in BeinArt gallery, Australia
• "Secret Longings" group exhibition curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2022
• "Forever and a Day" solo exhibition in Dorothy Circus gallery, Rome, Italy
• "Small Works" group exhibition, Beinart gallery, Australia
• BLAB annual group exhibition curated by Monte Beauchamp in Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "At the Edge" group exhibition in Kirk gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
• "The Last Unicorn" group exhibition in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Lucid" group exhibition in Beinart gallery, Australia
• "Sixth Sense" mini solo exhibition in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2021
• "Don't go Back to Sleep" solo exhibition in BeinArt gallery, Australia
• William Baczek Fine Arts Gallery's 25th anniversary group exhibition, Northampton, USA
• Corey Helfor gallery's 15 year anniversary exhibition, Los Angeles, USA
• "Lucid Dreaming" group exhibition, curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, in Copro Gallery, Los angeles, USA
• "Small Works" group exhibition, Beinart gallery, Australia
• VukovArt festival, Vukovar, Croatia
• "Art Collectors Starter Kit" annual group exhibition in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Animalia" group exhibition curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, in Haven gallery, USA
• "Looking with the Heart" exhibition commemorating 75 years of "Little Prince" by Saint-Exupery, Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Ephemeral" group exhibition in Jiro Miura gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• "Lore" group exhibition in Modern Eden gallery, San Francisco, USA

2020
• "Flower, Fire and Fallen Star" solo exhibition in William Baczek Fine Arts gallery, Northampton, USA
• "Midnight Garden" group exhibition, curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, in Copro Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Sweet 16" group exhibition, in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• 15th Annual BLAB exhibition, curated by Monte Beauchamp, in Copro Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Fantastical Beasts" group exhibition, in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Dark Art" group exhibition, in BeinArt Gallery, Australia
• "New Growth" group exhibition, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, USA

2019
• "Art Collectors Starter Kit" Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, US
• "Sea of Change" solo exhibition, in IA&A Hillyer, Washington DC, USA
• "Ritual" group exhibition, curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, in Haven Gallery, NY, USA
• "Soulsearching" solo exhibition, in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Ephemeral" group exhibition, in Jiro Miura gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• "Re-Beginnings" group exhibition, curated by Paintguide, in Thinkspace gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• 14th Annual BLAB exhibition, curated by Monte Beauchamp, in Copro Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Gaia Reborn" group exhibition, curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, in Urban Nation Berlin museum, Berlin, Germany
• "Mother and Child" group exhibition, Dorothy Circus Gallery, Rome, Italy

2018
• "Sea of Change" solo exhibition in San Diego Art Institute, curated by Distinction Gallery, San Diego, USA
• PULSE Miami Art Fair, with William Baczek Fine Arts gallery, US
• "Art Collectors Starter Kit" Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, US
• 13th annual BLAB exhibition, Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Ephemeral" group exhibition curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine in Modern Eden gallery, San Francisco, US
• "New Romantics" exhibition in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Summer of the Wild Wallflower" solo exhibition in Gallery House Toronto, Cnada
• "East meets West" exhibition in Corey Helford gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2017
• Pulse Miami Beach art fair with William Baczek Fine Arts gallery, USA
• “Ebbs and Flows of Heartblood” solo exhibition, William Baczek Fine Arts gallery, Northampton, USA
• 12th annual BLAB exhibition, Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Small Works" annual exhibition, BeinArt gallery, Melbourne, Australia
• “Savage Eden” solo exhibition, Vinyl on Vinyl gallery, Manila, Philippines
• "Lush", 4-person exhibition in BeinArt gallery, Melbourne, Australia
• “Animal Kingdom” group exhibition in William Baczek Fine Arts gallery, Northampton, USA
• LA Art Show 2017 with Arcadia gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2016
• "Superabundance of Ordinary Being" solo exhibition, Modern Eden gallery, San Francisco, USA
• “12 by 12 in 12” group exhibition in Arcadia gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "About a Girl" mini solo at the Gallery of the Youth, Kyoto, Japan
• "The Hours of Silence" exhibition in Gallery House, Toronto, Canada; co-curated by Ray Caesar
• "Femme to Femme Fatale" exhibition, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, USA; co-curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
• "Amethyst" exhibition in Arch Enemy Arts gallery, Philadelphia, USA
• 11th annual BLAB exhibition, Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• "Suggestivism" exhibition, Spoke Art gallery, San Francisco, USA; co-curated by Nathan Spoor
• "Small Works" exhibition, BeinArt gallery, Melbourne, Australia
• "Selfie" exhibition, Stephanie Chefas gallery, Portland, USA

2015
• “Anatomy of Innocence” solo exhibition, Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• “Don’t Wake Daddy X” annual invitational exhibition in Feinkunst Kruger gallery, curated by Heiko Muller, Hamburg, Germany
• “13th Hour” group exhibition in Last Rites gallery, New York, USA
• “Les Petit Fours” group exhibition co-curated by Friends of Leon Gallery and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Sydney, Australia
• „The BLAB! Show”, annual group exhibition; Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Curator Monte Beauchamp
• “Ephemeral:Territory of Girls” group exhibition in Jiro Miura gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• “Storybook” group exhibition, Modern Eden gallery, San Francisco, USA, co-curated by the Warholian’s Michael Cuffe
• “Inevitably Imperfect” group exhibition, Vinyl on Vinyl gallery, Manila, Philippines; curated by Dan Barry and Dexter Sy
• "Golden" group exhibition in Modern Eden gallery, San Francisco, USA
• “Floating Intersections” group exhibition in Pink Zeppelin Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2014
• “Milk” 4 person exhibition in Secret Fresh gallery, Manila, Philippines
• “Mysterium Cosmographicum” group exhibition in Stephen Romano gallery, New York, USA
• “Small Indignities” group exhibition in the Red Truck gallery, New Orleans, USA
• “After The End of Time” solo exhibition, FB69 gallery, Muenster, Germany
• “Welcome to the Dreamtime” group exhibition in Stephen Romano gallery, New York, USA
• “Suggestivism” group exhibition in Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA, curated by Nathan Spoor
• „The BLAB! Show”, annual group exhibition; Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Curator Monte Beauchamp
• Metro Show 2014, With Stephen Romano gallery, New York, USA

2013
• “My Paralles Lives” solo exhibition, Maksla XO gallery, Riga, Latvia
• PULSE New York Art Fair and The Metro Show; with independent curator Stephen Romano
• “Something Wicked This Way Comes” Cella Gallery, Los Angeles, USA; curated by Stephanie Chefas
• “Draw” group exhibition, Auguste Clown Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
• “Inevitably Imperfect” group exhibition, Artery Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand; curated by Dan Barry
• “Songs of Purity” solo exhibition, Distinction gallery, San Diego, California, USA
• “Painted Sound” group exhibition, Flower Pepper Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2012
• “Winter of Love” solo exhibition, Mondo Pop gallery, Rome, Italy
• The Metro Show Art Fair; with independent curator Stephen Romano
• “Anomalies”, group show by Beinart Collective; Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• „The BLAB! Show”, annual group exhibition; Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Curator Monte Beauchamp
• “Go with the Flow” group exhibition, Lucca, Italy; curated by Elena Girelli
• Preview Berlin Art Fair; with “Maksla XO” gallery
• “Taboo”, group show by Beinart Collective; Last Rites gallery, New York, USA
• “Vending Art Machine” project by Oficina 36; Barcelona, Spain; with “Maksla XO” gallery
• SWAB, art fair and TOYZ for FLS auction; Barcelona, Spain; with “Maksla XO” gallery
• “This is So Contemporary” group show, Ayden Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; curated by Daniela De Giorgi Petkovic
• Closeup of pop-surrealism and Urban Art; Miomao gallery, Perugia, Italy

2011
• Solo show “Milk and Blood” gallery “Maksla XO”, Riga, Latvia
• “Krampus show” gallery „Curly Tale”, Chicago, USA; curated by Monte Beauchamp
• “Taetrum et Dulce” show, Mondo Pop Gallery, Rome, Italy; curated by Dan Barry and David Vecchiato
• Solo show „Voyage Inside” gallery „Curly Tale”, Chicago, USA
• „The BLAB! Show”, annual group exhibition; Copro gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Curator Monte Beauchamp
• „Beyond Black and White” National Library of St Petersburg, Russia
• „Sanrio For Smiles” charity show for festival „Mi Japan”, Chiostri dell’Umanitaria, Milano. Curated by Christian Gancitano
• „The BLAB! Show” gallery „Roq La Rue”, Seattle, USA. Curated by Monte Beauchamp
• Solo show „Book of Taboo” gallery „Distinction”, San Diego, California, USA

2010
• Solo show „Science of Sleep” in White Piano house, Sigulda, Latvia
• group show „Subtleties of Character” gallery „WWA”, Los Angeles, California, ASV
• installation „Comfort me Again” for project „Experimental Station Laimdota” Contemporary Music and Art Festival, Cesis, Latvia. Curated by Daiga Kruze
• „Horrorwood” group show, gallery „WWA”, Los Angeles, California, USA
• group show „Jest in Time. The Phylogenesis of Clowns” gallery „Distinction”, San Diego, California, USA
• Solo show „The Lost Children” gallery „Distinction”, San Diego, California, USA

2009
• “Unbearable Freedom” show of young figurative painters; in the program of the “White Night 2009” festival, Riga, Latvia
• Art Zurich 2009, Switzerland
• “The Dark Arts Laboratory” show in gallery Slazds, Riga, Latvia
• „European cities in the paintings of Latvian artists II”. Gallery ASuna, Riga and in the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the EU, Brussels, Belgium
• “Good-bye cruel world!” exhibition of contemporary painting. Gallery Alma, Riga, Latvia
• International Contemporary Art Fair Europ’ART Geneve 2009
• „Purity”. Drawing exhibition of young Latvian contemporary artists. Creative space Tasty, Riga, Latvia
• Bridge Art Fair. NewYork, USA

2008
• Contemporary art fair „Lineart”, Belgium /Gallery Art Garden/
• Exhibition of the contemporary Latvian art in consulate of Latvia in Zurich, Switzerland
• „Painting of the year” juried exhibition of contemporary painting. Gallery ASuna, Riga, Latvia
• „Autumn 080808, I am Georgian!”. The annual juried exhibition of Latvian contemporary art. The gallery of the Latvian Artist Union, Riga, Latvia
• „Time”. The Exchange Project of the Latvian and Finnish artists. Exhibition in Helsinki, Finland /Organizer from Latvia - gallery ASuna/
• „Take your time”. The new Latvian painters – exhibition of the contemporary figurative painting. Part of the festival program ‘White nights 2008’. Strelnieku street, Riga, Latvia. Curator Inga Bunkse
• International Contemporary Art Fair Europ’ART Geneve 2008 /artists Normunds Braslins, Reinis Virtmanis, Ritums Ivanovs and Jana Brike/
• ”Cameo II” miniature exhibition in gallery Art Garden, Riga, Latvia
• The Art Now Fair. Hotel 30/30, New York, USA /artists Normunds Braslins and Jana Brike/
• „European cities in the paintings of Latvian artists”. The Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the EU, Brussels, Belgium
• „Apgāztais prieks” (Joy Inverted). Latvian contemporary painting. Gallery Mans’s, Jekabpils, Latvia
• The Art EXPO Fair. New York, USA.
• ART Innsbruck 2008. International Fair for Contemporary Art. Innsbruck, Austria

2007
• „Painting of the year” gallery ASuna, Riga, Latvia
• Solo show „Playground” in gallery Bastejs, Riga, Latvia
• „Viss ir balts” (Everything is White). Exhibition in gallery Laipa, Valmiera, Latvia
• “Myth about…” group show of contemporary painting, in consulate general of Latvia, St. Petersburg, Russia
• Visual art project ”Ropažu plenērs 2007” (Plein air of Ropazi 2007), Ropazi, Latvia
• “Silence”. Open Air Museum of Ventspils, Latvia
• 9th International Contemporary Art Fair ‘Art International Zurich’. Kongresshaus Zurich, Switzerland
• Brighton Art Fair 2007 /Gallery Rhapsody House/, UK
• Art & Soul. Fine art auction in aid of Demelza Hospice Care for Children, Tunbridge Wells, UK

2006
• „Bounded transference”. Latvian contemporary painting. Gallery Mans’s, Jekabpils, Latvia
• „Rudens 2006” (“Autumn 2006”) annual Latvian contemporary visual art exhibition, organised by Latvian Artist Union, Railway museum, Riga, Latvia
• „My tender beast” graphic exhibition in gallery Art Garden, Riga, Latvia
• „Mondo Lettone. Made in Italy” Exhibition teogether with Latvian artists Ilze Jaunberga and Toms Izaaks. Torre Aragonese, Bose Marina, Sardinia, Italy
• Contemporary women artists, exhibition within the framework of the conference of female rights, Kreishaus, Giterslo region, Germany
• “Human” Exhibition of figurative painting, exhibition hall of Riga Art and Design College, Riga
• Tra i colori del Carnevale. Artisti Baltici a confronto con artisti Sardi – exhibition of Latvian and Sardinian contemporary artists. Corso Giacomo, Tempio Pausania, Sardinia, Italy
• Art Salzburg 2006
• Exhibition of the Latvian contemporary painting, castle of Jekabpils, Latvia
• “L’Eros degli Artisti da Est a Ovest” for Priapeide 2006, San Maurizio square, Venice, Italy

2005
• Exhibition “Painting of The Year”, gallery “ASuna”, Riga, Latvia
• Cafe Art Exhibition of gallery RTBiz, Edinburgh, UK
• Exhibition of Latvian artists “Surprising Academy” in gallery “La Serre”, in Saint-Etienne, within the framework of Latvian Culture festival in France "Surprising Latvia" ("Etonannte Lettonie")
• “Portrait of a flower”, exhibition in gallery Carrousell, Riga, Latvia
• Solo exhibition “Firebird Seekers”, Convent yard, Riga, Latvia
• Exhibition of Latvian contemporary painting, ANO house, Riga, Latvia
• “Sguardo ad est” Exhibition of Baltic and Sardinian artists, Sala Delegazione Comunale and Salone Parrochiale, Sardinia, Italy
• Auction of Sotheby’s “gli amici artisti per le bambine di kalitala” in collaboration with Sabera Foundation, Milano, Italy
• “Tre pittrici lettoni” Exhibitions of Latvian paintings in parallel exposition of Venice Biennale 51. Venice, Italy
• Exhibition of Latvian art in the Institute of I.Repin, St.Petersburg, Russia
• “Dreaming of something” gallery New Realms exhibition in London, UK
• “L’eros degli artisti”, Smallbobcafe galleria, Lawrence, Italy

2004
• Exhibition “Cameo” in Art Garden gallery, Riga, Latvia
• Opening exhibition of gallery New Realms, London, UK
• Exhibition of Latvian Academy of Art in the University of Art and design, Helsinki, Finland
• I Fumi Cotti di Ripe San Ginesio 2004, graphic exhibition, San Ginesio, Italy
• ART house gallery exhibition 'Six Ways to Dream' at ART ID Gallery Tunbridge Wells, UK
• Exhibition “Absolute things” in Art Garden gallery, Riga, Latvia
• Plein air and exhibition in Ropazi, Latvia
• Group exhibition in Boheme House Gallery, London, UK
• Group exhibition in “ART house” galleries, Tunbridge Wells and London, England
• Latvian contemporary painting exhibition in European Commission, Brussels
• “That Inside You”, exhibition in theatre of Valmiera, Latvia

2003
• Group exhibition of young contemporary art in Art Academy of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
• Participation in art fair “StArt”, Strasburg, Switzerland