Lithuanian exhibition in the photography festival „Horizonte-Zingst“, Germany, 2012

May 25, 2012 | Exhibitions

Exhibition “State of Nature: Lithuanian Photography Review”

Lithuania participates as the guest country in the international photography festival „Horizonte-Zingst“ which takes place in Zingst, the north eastern city of Germany from the 26th of May till the 3rd of June. In collaboration with the STP-Galerie (Greifswald) Lithuanian organisation Culture Menu presents eight artists in the exhibition, titled “State of Nature. Lithuanian Photography Review”.

According to curator Eglė Deltuvaitė, the theme of the festival is nature, but in the Lithuanian artists’ exhibition it will reveal indirectly and more through the different relationship between nature and photography, variations of meanings, references and contexts created from the interaction between two of them.

The exhibition is divided into four parts, which are represented by two authors each. In the segment of the exhibition, entitled “Parts of Nature” famous Lithuanian landscape photographer’s Stanislovas Žvirgždas works from the series” Lithuanian landscapes” (1988-1991) are presented. Aside to these classical works, young photographer Mindaugas Gabrėnas shows his project “dreamscapes” – using old films to create a nostalgic, sensitive, past experience involving atmosphere. “Having my mind, eyes and camera I am going downward the maze of visions and do not care if entering the room, where someone has just been or from which I just gone. But there’s no denying – someday I’d love to get into the room where no one has gone before”, says artist.

Another part of exhibition – “Nature in context” combines Algis Griškevicius works from the series “Circus” (2009) and Joana Deltuvaitė’ project “Walking on the boundaries of Vilnius” (2010). Virtually unchanging, typical Lithuanian landscape is the second plan of majority of A. Griškevičius’s photographic works. It is the space where the characters created by him, this time decides to solve the problem of unemployment – the villagers team up a circus troupe… J. Deltuvaitė, using half-frame photography principal measures the limits of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. She photographs the landscape on the place where the city exactly starts and ends. Photographs are connected to twelve or more half-frames’ sequence which indicates the trajectory of the sight and movement. The periphery of Vilnius panorama’ landscape draws an alternative photographic map of the city limits and it is almost impossible to understand are you looking to or from it.

“Hidden Nature” – the third part of the exhibition, brings together one of the most promising author from young generation – Mindaugas Ažušilis’ series “Mould” (2010), and engineer of electronics, often participating in art exhibitions, Julius Pileckas’ project “Son of the Man. Touches”(2011-2012). In the photographs of M. Ažušilis, colour separates the wall in a staircase into two parts and the scattered dots of mould create the style of typical Far Eastern paintings. Ambiguous attitude about the mould, its’ emergence in the human territory, struggle between human and nature suggest additional connotative meanings of this project. J. Pileckas is also using the macro strategy by experimenting with the reaction between human body and chemical emulsion. He invented his own way of chemical process resulting in relief photograms in bright colors. The series is inspired by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte painting “The Son of the Man” (1964) and his comment that everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present .

In the last part “References of Nature” the series by Gytis Skudžinskas “Silence” (2008-2010) and Arturas Valiauga’ project “Japanmix”, (2009). A. Valiauga created the photographs using camera obscura made from the bento (Japanese food lunch box). Afterwards, he combined them with excerpts from Japanese comics resulting in photograms. Photography in this case is the key to the Japanese culture, where the nature is the integral and important part of. Nature in the context of Gytis Skudžinskas series operates only trough illusory impression of landscape photography while the project itself speaks about other issues. A photograph devoid of an event and message disorients the viewer and does away with the experience of vision as fast cognition. Images captured in nature sites and public or private spaces do not convey those locations’ precise parameters, but rather comprise a continuous visual structure, the principal objective of which is to emphasize the line between the visible and the invisible, the familiar and the foreign, the natural and the social, instead of reproducing the present situation.

After the opening of the exhibition the workshop with Algis Griškevičius will be held where it will be possible to observer how artist creates his set design, how the man is being placed there and how he is working. During evening meeting, the presentation about Lithuanian photography will be shown.

Opening of the exhibition 11 am on 31st of May. Heimatmuseum, Zingst, Germany.
http://www.erlebniswelt-fotografie-zingst.de

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