FRAGMENTS OF ART LIFE 1
In brief: Tints of ecology at the Balta Gallery, a serious duet of artists at the Aukso Pjūvis Gallery, a retrospective dedicated to the 90th Anniversary of higher art education in Kaunas, illusions of virtual life by Jūratė Rekevičiūtė at the Meno Parkas Gallery, video art of twenty two artists at the same gallery, an exhibition of Arvydas Palevičius at Kaunas Artists House – these are several accents in the show panorama of Kaunas in June.
The retrospective to mark the 90th Anniversary of higher art education in Kaunas is arguably the most solid of the displays. The show consists of three parts. The first period is represented by paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings preserved in various museums. The period of the Soviet occupation (1940-1991) is reflected by applied art from private collections while the present situation of Kaunas art is represented by works from the vaults of Vilnius Art Academy Kaunas Art Faculty.
The display of glass art in this show should be highlighted. One of the most ingenious works here is ‘Kaleidoscope’ (a.k.a. ‘Personality Transformation’) by Evelina Januškaitė. The author uses elements of kinetic art and the principle of a kaleidoscope and thus evokes the impression of infinity. The author herself compares a kaleidoscope to our memory and experiences, which are like stained-glass or a huge mosaic. Another important aspect of the work is its allusion to a well relating to the myth of Narcissus. By looking down at the ‘Kaleidoscope’ the viewer is symbolically brought back to the childhood, to the past in order to search for the depths of the unconscious.
Another more important exhibition is the show of Kęstutis Paliokas (1933-1978) and his daughter Inga Zamulskienė from the series ‘Duets’ held at the Aukso Pjūvis Gallery.
K. Paliokas is considered an artist of a tragic fate. His creative period was rather short due to his severe illness. The show contains the portraits of his beloved and rural landscapes mostly. His painting is characteristic of the realist style combined with the expressionist manner and generalisation of shapes. The drama of vitality, suffering and melancholy is hidden in every portrait of K. Paliokas. Through facial expressions, gestures and postures the artist shows the print of loneliness in his models.
At the meantime, I. Zamulskienė’s painting is different from her father’s. She is interested in the language of signs, contemplation of the past and the present. She focuses on the search for colour and its impact rather than concrete figures.
This duet is the first meeting of the father and the daughter in the exhibition room.
Real communication and real meetings are changed by life in virtual space. These matters are examined in the exhibition ‘Share. Like’ by Jūratė Rekevičiūtė. Held at the Meno Parkas Gallery it was one of the first shows of the Contemporary Art Festival ‘Kaunas in Art: Talking‘. J. Rekevičiūtė works in the field of graphics, installation, porcelain decor and curates contemporary art projects. She has been analysing ‘Facebook’, its potential and illusions for some time now. In her new works the author makes viewers wander in the flow of comments, links, posts and photos and raises the question – ‘Who shares what and whom with?’. The author asks us to determine what is real and what is not. She also provokes us to decide to hit ‘like’ or not. The topic chosen by the author could be examined in many ways – as an alternative to real communication; as perfect casting of masks; as medium for escapism; a ring of attitudes and virtues, and finally as space shaping some certain culture of communication.