Parafin, London, presents its first solo exhibition with Lithuanian artist Indrė Šerpytytė. Titled “Pedestal,” it runs from September 23 through November 12.
London-based Šerpytytė, 33, deals with issues of history and trauma, working primarily with photographs but also using archives, sculptures, films, audios and choreography. Through this exhibition, she represents the gap between the past and the present by comparing archival images of the statues of Lenin and Stalin in Lithuania’s Grutas Park. Although the composite images suggest continuity, a stark contrast can be noticed between the black-and-white images taken in the past and the coloured images of current times.
“Pedestal” is presented alongside a new audio-piece titled “Toppled,” where a professional narrator interprets the footage of the dismantling of public monuments as the disintegration of Soviet Union itself.
The theme of the exhibition is further accentuated with the introduction of sculpture works by the artist. The readymade granite plinths used for the sculpture draw reference with not only public sculptures but even gravestones, echoing forms of Minimalist sculptures, which were one of the dominant Modernist forms in the Cold War era.
