Danas Aleksa and Žilvinas Landzbergas. Fox Cave
For several years now, the artistic activities of both authors from time to time have been linked to Žaliakalnis in Kaunas. On the one hand, it is just a geographical location, one of the many places we go to. However, being here, as rarely as anywhere, the context becomes a particularly important, inevitable participant of the creative process. Therefore, in the end, both artists were united by one intention - to dedicate the exhibition to this context, to Žaliakalnis soul.
The first venue of the exhibition was planned to be in Žaliakalnis itself, on Owl Hill, at the "Temporary M. K. Čiurlionis Art Gallery". The exhibition spaces on the second floor of the building are connected to the outside by huge skylights, through which the tops of old trees can be seen against the sky, a view that, if you turn your head, you could probably have seen here 1000 years ago. The architecture of the gallery also suggested the idea of linking the exhibition to the metaphor of a cave, inviting us to rethink the reality behind the blind walls. The authors of the exhibition are like two narrators, representing non-existent windows to the audience. The exhibition is invited to be seen as a search for something hidden in screens, memory, objects, light, or the places it does not reach.
Sometimes, walking through the forest, you see a fox, but only for a short time, because when it sees you, it immediately disappears into the thickness. We are left with the knowledge that it exists, but everything else remains a mystery.
Danas Aleksa (b. 1971) graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 1997, where he received a Master's degree in Sculpture. Since then, he has held more than 15 solo exhibitions and is also an active participant in group shows. In 2012, he became a member of the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. The artist lives and works in Vilnius. Aleksa is a conceptual interdisciplinary artist working with sculpture, object, performance and video art. The main axes of the artist's work are time and space and their interrelation.
Žilvinas Landzbergas is a prominent artist notable for his presence at the 2017 Venice Biennale, Lithuanian Pavilion, 2018 Biennale de Sao Paolo's "The Slow Bird," 2018 Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art and for his impactful contributions to the world of installation art. "Žilvinas Landzbergas was born in Kaunas and lives and works in Vilnius. He studied at the Vilnius Academy of Arts from 1998-2004. In 2001 he studied at Plymouth University for a semester. 2005-2007 spent a post-graduate residency at Atelier, Amsterdam. In 2008 he was awarded the main prize of the modern and contemporary art publishing house "Thieme Art". He began to participate actively in exhibitions in 2003, when the characteristic features of Landzbergas' work became apparent: the importance of material, colour and light and the meaning they convey; social critique, often intertwined with reflection on personal experience. - Neringa Černiauskaitė.
The project is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and LATGA.
The exhibition organizers: ARTIŠOKAI and Meno Parkas Gallery.
The exhibition will be open until December 15.
Gallery's working hours: II-V 11:00–18:30 ❖ VI–VII - 11:00–16:00 ❖ I - Closed