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POP UP Gallery is an art event, breaching the boundaries between art and mode of life, “high” and “low” culture, the spectator and the passer – by, by the means of moving art practices into territories of daily routine. This is achieved via “pop up” strategy, which places the gallery into a commercial venue. Becoming a part of a supermarket’s ecosystem and intercepting it’s principles of operation as the way of curating, POP UP Gallery seeks to get as close as possible to the audience while creating a distinct interpretation of contemporary culture. During the course of four weeks, POP UP Gallery has displayed 12 projects by artists from Lithuania and abroad.
The series of paintings “Their tools were also silver” develops an ambivalent relationship with everyday objects. Obvious shapes of painted objects and spaces hides contrafactual abilities to cause an anxiety and uncertainty only by it’s visual existence. According to the artist, these feelings open up as a condition for image to be seen. The object becomes marginal category, from which is possible to lean on knowledge and belief.
“lithuanian poetry” is a collection of poetry, which is formed from written comments of the popular media portal readers under topic of emigration and nationall issues. According to the artist, internet comments makes reassessment of what is called “national ethnics”: “I consider those comments full of poetry and I think, these comments are a real opinion of nation placed in to the form of poetry.”
Alex Jaru – artist working in the field of video and installation. In the POP UP Gallery artist exhibited his works exploring repetition and balance moments. In his artistic creation Alex Jaru attempts to stop the events before their actual happening for a reason to emphasize the moment of weightless emotion, not containing any “positive” or “negative” load. Also, the colours, dynamics and rhythmics are important as a visual language expanding his flow of ideas.
Manuel Krumrain – installation artist and choreographer. His works are full of physical contact, connections, relation leitmotif. In his works Manuel often considers the autonomy of motion trough quite usual physical movements becoming into choreography. The artist pays attention to physical communication which allows to understand the context for any kind of unusual “speaking” moment.
Aistė Motiejūnaitė – profesional actress, who studied pantomime in “Lithuanian music and theatre academy”, later continued studies in Mikhail Chekov theatre studio in New York, where the idea of performance was born while trying to understand and adopt fast moving city. The performance is like a visual dialogue between two artists seeking to reach limits between “myself” and “other” and still asking the same question – what does it mean to be an individual. Artist interpret the identity as temporary and unstable form which can be characterized by changing dynamics of the spatial surrounding.
Gabrielė Šermukšnytė – a painter studying master degree in Vilnius Academy of Arts. Painters artistic ideas are inspired by the collective psychosis of consuming and it’s visual appearance. Her artwork includes moments of nostalgia, emptiness and ironic point of luxurious and sophisticated life. Artist creates kitschy scenes full of vanity and innocent sweetness to express her ideas about consumerism and popular media suggested life model.
Monika Dirsyte is an artist well known for her brave and high endurance performances. In POP UP Gallery she presented her new intimate performance “Monika&Monika�. This performance is artist confession and kind of ritual, which she wanted to express and share with gallery visitors. Monika have spend three days wearing wedding dress and top of metal constructed box trough which she was inviting visitors to look into her.
Artist Greta Grinevičiūtė together with Agniete Lisičkinaite, Marija Baranauskaite and Sigita Juraškaite was showing an improvised performance “Room”. Artist were inviting customers of supermarket for informal conversation in a gallery space which was turned into non typical intimate space for supermarket – their own living room.
Kęstutis Svirnelis is an artist working in a field of sculpture, livings and working in Vilnius and Germany. The most important subject for Kęstutis is absurd and alienation. For the artworks he consciously uses synthetic and variable form materials, old useless objects. Kęstutis is not afraid to express his opinion on political and social issues. Selected artworks exhibited in POP UP Gallery allow visitor to interact with an exposition space. Interactive objects liberate the visitor from a passive observer position and convert him into active participant because of kinetic sculptures which is possible to be turned on by visitor movement with a help of sensors or precisely constructed systems. The artist is active in Lithuanian and international art scene. Art fair “ArtVilnius’13” awarded sculpture “Snowman” as the best sculpture of art fair.
Pablo Wendel (Germany) – artist, sculptor turned into the field of performance art. The artist became famous after his one day performance of joining Terracotta army who guards for thousand years master’s grave in China. In the POP UP Gallery artist exhibits his installations and performance cycle considering various forms of energy. The main purpose of this performance is to create and develop a power station what could produce electricity only from art. The visitors were invited to use artworks for charging their own electronic devices trough art objects.
Jaras Ramūnas is an author, critic, performance artist and composer. Well known in local art scene for his musical art-rock project “Echidna aukštyn” (“Echidna upwards”). Project has released already around 20 albums. The artist in POP UP Gallery with his band made a live music performance. The performance could be considered as a concert of trash-pop musicians, because of Ramunas Jaras ironic point of view to local popular musical scene which details he often uses in his compositions.
SD DRUA (Darius Šidlauskas) - artist, well known of his scandalous exhibition “Globalization”. Localization. Idiocy. Absurd. The artist is characterized by using the radical forms of expression about politics, often associated with a critique of the ideology of capitalism.
POP UP Gallery founders: Young Poor Artists
gallery@youngpoorartists.com
www.youngpoorartists.com/gallery +370 645 30869
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