PERSON AND TIME. International Graphic Art Exhibition

Artists: Evaldas Mikalauskis, Kestutis Vasiliunas, Jūrate Rekevičiute, Rolandas Rimkunas, Peeter Allik, Egle Vertelkaite

A common thread in this exhibition is the span of time in which the featured artists found their voice, developed and grew. They come from the pre-gadget, pre-Internet and pre-globalisation generation. Their day-to-day existence was the strange, traumatic reality of the Soviet times, the dembel albums*, the harvesting in the kolkhozes*, the filtered snippets of information, then the wild nineties. A generation that still regards unhurried face-to-face conversation as a fundamental value. Time and again, I admire and relish their sharpness of thought, accuracy of language and ability to conjure visual scenes in a seemingly casual account and smile at their own foibles. They all have given me inspiration, encouragement and belief in the meaning of art, in the possibility of combining virtuosity of form with depths of contents and deeply human joie-de-vivre. This exhibition is my tribute to the authors I have spent time with and come to know as fascinating people. For the most part, we have talked, laughed, met and lived together in art related events. Sadly, as of last year, with two of them, Jūratė Rekevičiūtė and Peeter Allik, it is no longer possible.

If we imagine this exhibition taking place in a virtual space, each of these artists would have earned a “like”. Peter Allik, assuming he would notice it at all, would probably smirk and go on cutting lino while sipping his beer.

Curator of the exhibition Liena Bondare

*dembel albums – a distinct phenomenon in Soviet subculture.

Dembel – a slang term for demobilisation, also a soldier approaching demobilisation in the armed forces of the USSR.

*kolkhoz – abbreviation of the term “collective farm”.

Harvesting in kolkhozes was a distinct annual event that involved all citizens, including schoolchildren, university students and professional groups.