Man and fish

“Man and Fish” is a group show by the Lithuanian and French artists who work around the topics of rebirth, renewal, and socialisation. Participants draw their inspiration from religion, mythology and legends. Among the many meanings of the fish-symbol we find fertility, sensibility, creativity, rebirth, luck, transformation, health, wealth, serenity, intellect, hapiness, power, endurance, sexuality, and cold-bloodedness. As a representative of the element of water, fish symbolises a deeper self-understanding. This show is equally about a human being – the user of signs and symbols. In this juxtaposition with the fish, man appears just as multifaceted and multilayered as the fish-symbol itself: wise and foolish, passionate and pious, kind and corrupt, and most of all — unpredictable.

When curating the show, we focused on the word poisson – French for ‘fish’. Along with its homophonic neighbours passion (‘passion’) and poisons (‘poison’), it introduced a poetic interplay of different meanings – a common discursive device in France. We invited the artists to be led by this rich interplay of words on their search for the new ideas about love, passion, and that thin line that separates the argumentative critique from ad hominem attacks. The symbolism of fish is inherently linked with water, and in psychology the latter is often associated with the dark waters of the unconscious with our thoughts swimming in it, not unlike fish, the deep dwellers of ‘the personal’.

It is also an invitation to celebrate the coming of this summer in hope of a more joyful season of life and renewal after the pandemic lockdown. The artists: Thierry Dalat‘as, Davidas Daoud‘as, Hélène Duclos, Manu Rich‘as, Julienas Allegre, Jeanas Pierre‘as Ruel‘is, Francisco Sepulveda, Rūta Jusionytė, Vilmantas Marcinkevičius, Vytenis Lingys, Adelė Liepa Kaunaitė, Audronė Petrašiūnaitė, Miglė Kosinskaitė, Indra Marcinkevičienė, Martynas Gaubas ir Algimantas Šlapikas offer a celebration of life and human contact.

Curators of the exhibition: Julija Palmeirao, Christian Noorbergen
Exhibition organizer: Edvidas Žukas, “Menų tiltas”
Exhibition sponsors: Živilė ir Jonas Garbaravičiai / Meno Fondas; Open24/Crocs