On July 5-11, Gediminas G. Akstinas’ new sculpture series ‘Nudes’ will be exhibited. The series is the second part of the same-titled artist’s project.
Address: Paneriai Sculpture Park, Vilnius (54.632215, 25.145034)
In case you get lost: +37067270603
You can see through it!
The sculptural series ‘Nudes’ is based on different samples of plastered surfaces collected from buildings currently under construction in Vilnius. The technique of plastering, the movements applied and the tools used to perform it have hardly changed since this method was perfected in ancient Egypt. At the beginning of its existence, plastering was mostly used to reinforce walls or to create two-dimensional drawings on them, the plots of which ranged from depicting gods to reflecting daily activities. Today, with the rapid growth in demand for housing, the plasterer’s movements have not lost their relevance, while still remaining unnoticed. As any long-lived practice, plastering is able to adapt to changed circumstances without losing its main purpose – smoothing or hiding unevenness and cracks so that they do not prevent other practices from being seen.
The Paneriai Sculpture Park, hosting the sculptural series’ exhibition, was established after the Symposium on Concrete Sculptures ‘Sculpture in an Industrial Landscape’ organised in 1985. The symposium took place on the territory of the then large-panel building elements’ factory.
The main starting point of ‘Nudes’ is the practice of plastering walls and different samples of plastered surfaces collected from buildings in Vilnius currently under construction. The work of a plasterer in the project unfolds both as a way of thinking and as the creation of neutralizing surfaces and economic objects. Special attention is given to aesthetics determined by both the speed of the global economy and impulsive, often irrational decisions, the thin line between authorial and anonymous action, and the connections between collective work and individual discoveries. Highly important here is the material side of ‘Nudes’: the surfaces of plastered walls created by skilled hand movements allow the craftsman to remain unnoticed.
Other parts of the project:
On June 19-20, Akstinas’s performance ‘Untitled’ (2015) took place in Vilnius. During the performance, the artist tested the hypothesis of the ancient Greek philosopher and poet Empedocle, who claimed that vision is enabled by light emanating from people’s eyes.
A publication consisting of interviews with wall plasterers and experiences captured in daytime nightclub parties will be released this fall.
Special thanks to: Antanas Laukaitis, Gerda Paliušytė, Alexandra Bondarev, Virginija Januškevičiūtė, Gediminas Akstinas, Kazimieras Sližys.
The project is supported by the Lithuanian Culture Council.
Gediminas G. Akstinas (b. 1987) is a Lithuanian artist currently living in Vilnius. Akstinas graduated from the Sandberg Institute in 2015. Among the artist’s last personal exhibitions are: ‘Companions’ (Gedimino Ave. 45-2, Vilnius (2017)); ‘SHIP’ (The Amsterdam Kunstverein (2015)); and ‘BROWSERS’ (short-term rental apartments in Vilnius (2014)). In 2017, Akstinas’s publication ‘it depends’ was presented at the San Serriffe bookstore in Amsterdam and in the reading room of the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius.