ART AFTER HOURS
Art After Hours is a gallery festival for night owls, during which selected Vilnius city galleries, art institutions, and art spaces will open their doors to visitors until late in the evening and will organize additional events: meetings with artists and gallerists, tours of exhibitions, and performances. Admission to the participating galleries and events is free.
More information: https://www.artafterhours.lt/en/
Coordinator – Lukas Stanionis
PROGRAMME OCTOBER 4, FRIDAY
Free tour with an art critic through galleries:
“Dailininkų sąjungos galerija,”
“Vilniaus grafikos meno centras,”
VDA Exhibition Halls “Titanikas,”
“5 Malūnai,”
“AP galerija,”
“Kristina Norvilaitė Gallery”
Starting point: Dailininkų sąjungos galerija (Vokiečių g. 2).
5 malūnai. Vilnius Academy of Arts gallery
VAA Outdoor expo (glass cube at Maironio Str. 6)
21:00
Meetings with an artists Jonė Dūdaitė and Jokūbas Griška
The exhibition is open 24/7
Jonė Dūdaitė, Jokūbas Griška. Exhibition Eccentricity
The line between what you expect and what you get. The line between the art object and the viewer. The line that is crossed in order to experience the work.
The exhibition Eccentricity questions the gallery’s exhibition space, the content of which is not accessible to the human touch or a full view. Inspired by this context, the artists aim to apply a book to this specific space. A book is not only a visual object, but it also contains certain information that can only be assimilated by reading it. The authors of the exhibition consider the phenomenon of boundaries and distance through the book as an installation object that reflects on the environment and the viewer.
The title of the exhibition Eccentricity is a reference to the experience of the exposition, which does not correspond to a conscious logic and sequence of events.
Jonė Dūdaitė and Jokūbas Griška are 1st-year students of the VAA Master’s degree program in Graphic Arts.
Curator of the exhibition: Marija Marcelionytė-Paliukė
(Užupio g. 24)
18:00-22:00
Meetings with an artist Džiugas Jurkūnas
Džiugas Jurkūnas. Exhibition True Stories
“Yes, it really happened. Why are you laughing? All these stories are real – from my own experience. I am a storyteller, and as you know, storytellers can do a lot,” begins sculptor Džiugas Jurkūnas as he introduces his first painting exhibition.
Džiugas started painting unexpectedly, through drawing as an intermediary visual material while preparing sculptural projects. On large canvases, he would draw life-size sketches of sculptures, then, once finished, he would remove them from the stretcher, roll them up, and take them to the clients. These drawings were informational, intended to help understand and visualize the scale, shape, structure, proportions, beginning and end of the figure, as well as the nuances of how the sculpture would be placed. In fact, painting had always been the artist’s secret desire, and he was constantly looking for a reason to do it.
Džiugas Jurkūnas (b. 1972) graduated from the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts and, in 1995, from the Sculpture Department of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. He has been a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association since 1999. He participates in exhibitions, public competitions, and creates private commissions. His works adorn public spaces and private collections both in Lithuania and abroad.
Outdoor sculpture exhibition at Bernardinai Garden
(Barboros Radvilaitės g. 8A)
Mindaugas Navakas. Exhibition 5 Objects (2)
The exhibition 5 Objects (2), presented in the Bernardine Garden, is inspired by the artist’s series of photomontage sketches Vilnius Notebook (1981-1985). It presents unrealized projects – combinations of sculptures and urban architecture, in which life-like, dynamic structures emerge as a contrast to the monotonous and pragmatic buildings of the Soviet era, asserting the invincibility of nature as a statement of the values of society at that time. The new series of works by Mindaugas Navakas is characterized by its impressive volume and mass, irony and provocation for both the space and the viewer, and a continuation of the artist’s earlier ideas. The steel structures erected in a busy city park disrupt the usual stroll and encourage a reassessment of urban spaces and the change in values, drawing public attention to the relationship between man and nature around him.
Mindaugas Navakas is one of Lithuania’s most important sculptors, whose works are known even to people who are not interested in art. His extremely large sculptural objects have become an important part of Lithuanian and foreign urban spaces. Mindaugas Navakas’ works from the 1970s and 1980s contributed to the renewal of sculptural expression and continue to be an important part of the contemporary art field. His work is characterized by enormous scales, heavy, massive forms and materials, and unexpected solutions for display.
(T. Vrublevskio g. 6-2)
Exhibition Letters from the Lioness
From September 19 to October 31, 2024, the Drifts Gallery will host the group exhibition Letters from the Lioness, curated by Monika Lipšic. The exhibition will focus on the place of the woman creator in society, her creative energy, her erotic element, her freedom to create, and her power to destroy. And as if by an invisible thread, the personality of Klementina Potockytė-Tiškevičiuskienė (1856-1921), whose energy brought different people together and tested the boundaries of the society of the time, will unite the work of contemporary women artists.
Participating artists: Ieva Rojūtė, Monika Jagusinskytė, Eglė Pilkauskaitė, Ieva Rižė, Elvyra Kairiūkštytė’s works. The opening performance will be delivered by Samuel Barbier-Ficat.
Curator of the exhibition: Monika Lipšic
Exhibition set design: Barbora Šulniūt
Graphic design: Jonė Miškinytė
TITANIKAS. VDA exhibition halls
(Maironio g. 3)
XVIII INTERNATIONAL VILNIUS PAINTING TRIENNIAL
I Am Here Not To Be Tolerated, I Am Here To Provoke You
The second part of the XVIII International Vilnius Painting Triennial moves to the capital city, Vilnius Academy of Arts “Titanikas” exhibition halls, where it presents an exhibition consisting of two sections. Here, the works of artists from the Baltic States meet the creations of nominees for the Nordic and Baltic Young Artist Award. The first part of the triennial began at the Kaunas Picture Gallery, where contemporary works by artists from the Nordic countries, Poland, and Lithuania are exhibited.
The Baltic artists’ exhibition, curated by Meda Norbutaitė (LT) and Arvydas Žalpys (LT), features contemporary paintings by artists of different generations from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, reflecting the political, social, and human relationship with the environment, the problems of contemporary society, the impact of technology on people and their creativity.
Baltic artists: Kaido Ole (EE), Marko Mäetamm (EE), Mirjam Hinn (EE), Andris Vītolinš (LV), Māris Čačka (LV), Sigita Daugule (LV), Elena Balsiukaitė Brazdžiūnienė (LT), Vita Opolskytė (LT), Mantas Valentukonis (LT)
The Nordic and Baltic Young Artist Award nominees’ exhibition, curated by Andra Orn (EE), raises questions about identity, cultural heritage, and existential human challenges through contemporary art. The young artists use various techniques and media to reveal themes of posthumanism, the influence of technology, and contemporary social changes.
Young artists: Adomas Rybakovas (LT), Agata Orlovska (LT), Andrea Margó Rotenberg (EE), Arvid Staaf (SE), Eeva Lietonen (FI), Eila Kalve (LV), Gabrielė Monginaitė (LT), Katrina Laura Biksone (LV), Marion Saarik (EE), Marleen Suvi (EE), Neda Naujokaitė (LT), Rokas Janušonis (LT)
These exhibitions showcase the fresh perspectives of contemporary painting, crossing the boundaries between its materiality and abstract narratives. They invite viewers to deeply reflect on the mission of art and its impact on society.
Dailininkų sąjungos galerija. Lithuanian Artists’ Association
(Vokiečių g. 2)
20:00
Exhibition tour with curators
Exhibition Find in G
The renewed DSG gallery showcases works by active and contemporary artists.
The exhibition “Find in G” raises the question of who finds whom. Does the artist find the motif, or does the motif find the artist? Does the viewer discover the artwork and the artist, or does the artwork find its audience? The newly reopened gallery invites visitors to discover both new and already beloved artists.
The exhibition is dedicated to presenting the Vilnius Painters’ Section.
Artists: Meda Norbutaitė, Linas Lianzbergis, Rūta Eidukaitytė, Mykolė, Audrius Gražys, Arvydas Kašauskas, Adelė Liepa Kaunaitė, Vilmantas Marcinkevičius, Inga Mrazauskė, Laura Slavinskaitė, Vytautas Tomaševičius, Goda Lukaitė, Kristina Asinus.
Gallery Atletika. Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association (Vitebsko g. 23)
Exhibition Disciplines by new members of Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association
Tired of the ideologies of vehement contemporaryism and declarative interdisciplinarity, artists unironically indulge in the ‘new old’ disciplines – textile, drawing, moulding, glassmaking, painting, sculpture and even folk art. Instead of longing for the innocence of these disciplines, they have a sense that the immersive, material and psychoaesthetic qualities of the latter perfectly resonate with the present without any clear timestamps. Disciplines are no longer a taboo or a fetish; rather, they are something that evades the vocabularies to which we have become accustomed. The exhibition also asks what the authors’ personal disciplines are, including routines, procedures, rituals, productivity and inspiration-seeking exercises, and seeks to trace the links between disciplinary expression and all-encompassing emotional self-discipline.
Participating artists: Greta Eimulytė, Vaiva Grainytė, Elena Grudzinskaitė, Algirdas Jakas, Elena Kanarskaitė, Liudvikas Kesminas, Indrė Liškauskaitė, Donata Minderytė, Rūta Spelskytė. Curated by Jurij Dobriakov.
(Užupio g. 1)
21:30
Meeting with an artist Kristina Norvilaitė
Exhibition Just Hunches
Norvilaitė’s abstractions are presented in the exhibition.
Looking at these paintings, you will immediately notice how unpredictable they are and how many associations they evoke.
The idea of a painting is born instantly, intuitively trusting the artist’s found way of creating.
We can’t often justify our hunch, but we feel that it leads us in the right direction. “Most paintings are born in the silence of the night when no one calls or texts. That’s the best time to create abstractions,” says Kristina Norvilaitė.
(J. Basanavičiaus g. 1)
Julija Skudutytė. Exhibition INFJ
Julija Skudutytė graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts with a Master’s degree in Monumental Painting and actively participates in exhibitions and art projects in Lithuania and abroad. The artist has already held several exhibitions and expositions and has been awarded prizes for book illustrations, paintings, and expositions. Last year, at the international contemporary art fair ArtVilnius23, Skudutytė was chosen by the jury as the best young artist at the fair.
INFJ is the artist’s sixth solo exhibition, where she will present new works created during an art residency in Düsseldorf, Germany. These works were exhibited at the Atelier am Eck gallery. According to Matthias Grotevent, the curator of the Düsseldorf exhibition, Julija’s work naturally confronts her own nature, so she decided to take a personality test she found on the internet. The test identifies 16 different personality types, and Skudutytė’s results described her personality as a very special type – INFJ. Only 1% of people in the whole world, such as Jesus, are INFJ.
On her travels, the artist began to create self-portraits in front of depictions of saints experiencing a revelation. In her studio, she produced paintings of herself experiencing a vision and slowly became a vision herself in her artistic working process.
In the installations of INFJ, the artist uses the Glanzbilder – cut illustrations to decorate books of letters and poetry – as a template to construct a certain aesthetic through a nostalgic connection and to develop her iconography.
LAA Project Space
(Vokiečių g. 4)
Marta Ģibiete. Exhibition Es nevaru rimties / I can’t calm down
Marta Ģibiete creates new beings from pieces of glass; objects that appear to possess life, and one or two secrets on top of that. Like a miniature, mischievous God, she sculpts them a body, then breathes a soul into them. As the viewer, mesmerized, attempts to make contact with these alien life forms, he or she might ponder what constitutes consciousness, or personhood.
Marta Ģibiete works in various techniques, gaining particular recognition with spatial glass works created in an unusual technique and various scales. Marta’s glass sculptures are geometric and simultaneously poetic, created by cleverly circumventing the complex nature of glass technologies. She discovered this unique technique very early – during her studies, achieving international recognition which includes two important awards. Since then, Marta has participated in exhibitions, symposia, and conferences worldwide. In her artwork, Marta also employs other techniques – she likes to create glass installations in various environments, use a mirror, play with its versatile nature. Marta Ģibiete is a Latvian glass artist, born and raised in coastal city of Liepāja, currently lives and works in Riga. Graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia with a master’s degree. Marta’s creative work is often shown in group exhibitions all over the world, there have been several solo exhibitions in Riga, Latvia and abroad. The artist’s works are in the collections of glass and design museums of Europe and Japan.
Pamėnkalnis gallery. Lithuanian Artists’ Association
(Pamėnkalnio g. 1)
Kęstutis Grigaliūnas. Exhibition THE GHOST, THE HARES, GEDIMINAS, AND THE OCTOPUS
“1. Gediminas; 5. The Monster in Vilnelė; 33. The Spirit of Žygimantas Augustas; 8. A Good-Humored Vytautas; 25. The Bear Choir of Naujoji Vilnia; 32. The Contents of Barbora’s Handbag; 27. The Iron Wolf; 26. Perkūnas Playing with a Stone; 30. The Choir of the Damned from St. John’s Church; 35. Lizdeika; 9. The Stork Carrying St. Casimir’s Hand” – these are just a few of the imagined stories of Vilnius that can be found in Kęstutis Grigaliūnas’ latest exhibition, “The Ghost, the Hares, Gediminas, and the Octopus.”
Kęstutis Grigaliūnas, laureate of the National Culture and Art Prize, offers viewers a chance to create their own stories of Vilnius, borrowing hints from his works. The exhibited paintings, prints, cutouts, objects, and puzzles, filled with witty story fragments, invite visitors to engage in a playful creative process – to rearrange, transfer, or interpret the favorite elements or details in their own way, even sitting down at the stamping table.
(Vilniaus g. 39, third floor)
Exhibition SPECTRUM 2
SPECTRUM 2 is a group exhibition of contemporary art and collectible design, showcasing the work of the gallery’s represented and invited artists. The dynamic and evolving group exhibition features the work of more than 50 different artists, from emerging artists to stars of the contemporary art world.
Gytis Arošius / Kotryna Butautytė / Daydreaming Objects / Vilius Dringelis / Kiki van Eijk / Faktura / Govert Flint / Marija Puipaitė & Vytautas Gečas / Vytautas Gečas / Liepa Gradauskaitė / Kristijonas Gurčinas / Kodai Iwamoto / Vytenis Jankūnas / Rokas Janušonis / Linas Jusionis / Geistė Kinčinaitytė / Dirk van der Kooij / Ignas Krunglevičius / Luuk van Laarhoven / Flora Lechner / Mantas Lesauskas / Etienne Marc / Alina Melnikova / Donata Minderytė / Moustache / Robertas Narkus / Vesta Rugilė Nausėdaitė / Milda Palivonaitė / Patricija Pažus / Emilija Povilanskaitė / Monika Radžiūnaitė / Dorian Renardm / Gerimantas Ribinskas / Indrė Rybakovaitė / Adomas Rybakovas / Dominykas Sidorovas / Unė Šilinytė / Laurynas Skeisgiela / Arnoldas Šliuževičius / SetP Stanikas / Eugenija Tereščenko / Trafik / Bram Vanderbeke /Neringa Vasiliauskaitė / Vita Zaman
(Latako g. 3)
20:00–21:00
Meeting with curator Viltė Visockaitė
Exhibition 11th International Triennial of Small Graphic Forms
The 11th International Triennial of Small Graphic Forms is an attempt to reflect on the changing relationship between the medium of printmaking and contemporary art, to promote the relevance and dissemination of the genre of printmaking, and to explore the possibilities and limits of its expression.
Inspired by art historian Aby Warburg’s image atlas Mnemosyne, the architecture of the exhibition combines estampes of different graphic techniques, styles, and themes to construct a dynamic knowledge in the face of political and economic crises, war, and global warming.
The organizers of the Triennial encourage the artists to pay attention to the narratives and myths, prejudices and beliefs, joys and sorrows, tensions and challenges of today’s world, and how they shape our existence and our everyday lives.
63 artists from 19 countries participate in the exhibition.
Curators: Nijolė Šaltenytė, Viltė Visockaitė