REDISCOVERED CREATIVE LAYERS 0

Ugnė Kraulaidytė
www.kamane.lt, 2012-11-26

Diary of Arūnas Vaitkūnas’ drawings

In brief: Arūnas Vaitkūnas (1956-2005) was a painter of unique hearing for colours and special artistic sensitivity. He is well known to art admirers from canvases full of internal tension and rich strokes. Still, there exist not so well-known works – drawings that have not been displayed in exhibitions. One may see them in exhibitions opened in two Kaunas spaces: vanishing sacred objects of Samogitia drawn by pencil and pastel are showcased at A. Žmuidzinavičius Works and Collections Museum until December 16; and photographs of the artist as well as drawings enlarged while printing them are displayed at Meno Parkas gallery. “Perhaps it was risky to enlarge small drawings from notebooks in this way, but the attempt was to show the line of hand closer as if looking through a magnifying glass. The exposition at A. Žmuidzinavičius Museum is more “museum-like” while here it is more modern due to the changed sizes,” the painter Aušra Barzdukaitė-Vaitkūnienė states.

Drawings of A. Vaitkūnas are also presented in the new catalogue “Arūnas Vaitkūnas. Drawings”, in which works created on paper and in notebooks in 1980-2005 are published. These works draw in pencil, sepia and pastel picture views of Samogitia, South Lithuania, Vilnius, Kaunas, Georgia.

There is a wish to call drawings of A. Vaitkūnas sketches – aren’t they only a supplementary means for the painter? Still, one has to remember that the artist considered them to be independent works of art, which, perhaps, were not meant for exhibitions (they are showcased for the first time). Not all drawings turned into paintings.

Debut of graphic art in cycle of exhibitions “Duets”

Aukso Pjūvis gallery also tries to show art that has been forgotten slightly. For the first time the gallery presents works of the graphic artists Romualdas Čarna (b.1939) and Algirdas Pakeliūnas (1938-2003) in the cycle of exhibitions “Duets”. The exposition is formed of some completely new works of R. Čarna and slightly forgotten works of A. Pakeliūnas.

The chosen artists are united by their love to graphic art, native region of North Lithuania and sensitivity to motifs of nature. True, the interpretation of landscape and understanding of colour of A. Pakeliūnas and R. Čarna is quite different. Perhaps the difference is determined by the distance of time as the showcased works of A. Pakeliūnas were created in the 8th-10th decade, while the works of R. Čarna – during the latter two years (with several exceptions). Leaning on the motif of nature, R. Čarna turns it into an abstraction, a poetical metaphor that pictures the spiritual status. Meanwhile, the feeling of sunshine and lightness is created by the impressionistic glimmer of light flooding the chosen motif in paintings of A. Pakeliūnas.

Works of sculptor Saadia Bahat, who has returned

The sculpture exhibition of the Israeli artist of Lithuanian origin Saadia Bahat (Bokšickis) “69 Years After” was opened at Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery at the beginning of November. The artist born in Alytus 69 years ago was deported from Vilnius ghetto to Estonia in 1943 and later to Stutthof concentration camp. The artist succeeded to avoid death and to escape to Palestine in 1946, but peace did not last long as the artist had to fight in Israeli war for independence two years after.

S.Bahat started the sculptor’s career only on his 65th birthday, when his pension started.

If sculpture sounded like music, the works of Bahat would remind of a good classical music piece performed by the piano. Smooth surfaces of wood, stone and marble would form a harmonious and transparent melody by clean notes. Harmony, peace, equilibrium, soft eroticism that may be called love describe the works of the sculptor the best.

Different landscape of Japanese art

The panorama of Japanese art “Road to the Future: New Japanese Art” showcased at M.Žilinskas gallery changes the image of Japanese art formed in the head of many people. Relations with traditional ink painting are felt only slightly in works of Nobuyuki Takahashi. The exposition presents the clearly vanishing boarder between art and daily life (or non-art). This statement is perfectly illustrated by the installation of Miyuki Yokomizo “Wash it” that reminds of a shower cabin, also the works of the group Maywa Denski.


Read comments
Write your comment
*
*