ARTVILNIUS’2024
KUNSTKAMERA
Simona Skaisgirė
Meno rinkos agentūra
Indrė Ercmonaitė
Kazys Daugėla
Pranas Gailius
Sergejus Gračiovas
Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė
Antanas Mončys
Gallery “Kunstkamera” started its activities in 2010, as the Art Market Agency (which also organizes the Vilnius Auction) moved to the current premises on Ligoninė st. 4, in Vilnius. Many people ask what the word “Kunstkamera” means, or notice that they associate this word with the famous Kunstkamera established by Peter I in St. Petersburg. Indeed, this German term refers to a certain phenomenon – a cabinet of art, collections (not only art, but also archaeological, historical, natural) collections in a mansion or palace, which gave rise to museums, is a kind of their prototype.
Our gallery is not a museum, but with this name, we raise the bar to show such exhibitions, where the exhibited works would not embarrass museum spaces, and on the other hand, we make sense of the fact that we mainly work not with artists directly, but with collectors or heirs of artists’ creative legacy. Although, for the sake of fairness, we have to say that there are some contemporary authors with whom we work directly and systematically, but nevertheless the main line is the presentation of such authors who are “remote in time or space”. Several directions of work of the gallery “Kunstkamera” can be distinguished.
First of all, we work mostly with diaspora artists: we regularly present the work of Pranas Gailius, Antanas Mončys, Pranas Lapė, we have organized exhibitions of Žibuntas Mikšys, Vladislovas Žilius, Romas Viesulas, Leonas Urbonas, Telesforas Valius, Antanas Tamošaitis. Perhaps the most complex project in this area of work with diaspora was the group exhibition “Departures. Abstraction in diaspora art” (2013) event, which presented the abstract works of 17 diaspora authors from Canada to Australia.
The second area that we really like is Photography. Photo exhibitions of US diaspora Kazys Daugėla (“Journey”, 2012, creative retrospective, 2019) and Algimantas Kezys (“Architektonika”, 2013) were held in 2013. In Moldova, we presented the exhibition “Steps” by 9 representatives of the Lithuanian school of photography (also presented at the ARTVILNIUS fair in 2014).
The third area is Lithuanian classical art, both pre-war and post-war. Exhibitions of pre-war works by Adomas Galdikas (“Odyssey of Colors”, 2011), Jonas Buračas (2010, and published creative album), Ramazan Krinickas and Natalija Luščinaitė Krinickienė (“From oblivion…” 2012) are worth mentioning. We also presented important exhibitions of Zenonas Varnauskas (2011), Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas (2010, published his album), Linas Katinas (published his album), Vincas Kisarauskas “Mažieji formatai” (2011), Sergejus Gračiovas “Travels and Ports” (2013), Vitolis Trušys “Twilight Light” (2014).
In recent years, the gallery has been paying more attention to the inclusion of young and contemporary art in the art market.
Book presentations are also held in the gallery, and MIM (Art History School) lectures are held in the fall and winter semesters.
Edvardas Racevičius, Šešėlis
Sculpture
Wood (ash), carving, polychromy
100x25x20 cm
2020
Pranas Gailius, Iš ciklo „Adret"
Painting
Cardboard, oil, acrylic, collage
80x60 cm
1990–2000