Photo reportage from the exhibition 'ANSKA' by Agnė Juodvalkytė at Blake & Vargas, Berlin

The exhibition consists of large-scale paintings and intimate pieces that the artist created over the past 8 months. The title of the show, ANSKA, a Lithuanian term of endearment referring to the artist’s grandmother, sets and defines the symbolic space of the exhibition that is centered around the complex nature of memory and the imaginary act of remembering. All canvases shown are the result of a slow process of color layering.

Juodvalkytė’s use of color resembles an alchemical examination of the material’s different states of matter: paint made of plants, natural pigments, graphic dust – from raw to fluid – are applied on the canvas in bold gestures. Combined, they result in multi-layered abstract landscapes that invite the viewer to immerse themselves, yet refuse any concrete reading.

Agnė Juodvalkytė uses textiles and painting as a framework to understand culture, history and technology. She works with different materials, such as clothes, textiles, natural pigments, graphite dust, fabrics made by her grandmother, plants, and incorporates various practices. Often presented in an anthropomorphic way, her works breathe their past into the present, becoming multidimensional artifacts extending not only into space but also into time.

Born in 1987 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Agnė Juodvalkytė lives and works in Berlin and Vilnius.
Kindly supported by Lithuanian Council for culture

* Until the end of the Lockdown, the exhibition can be viewed through the gallery window and by appointment only.

Agnė Juodvalkytė
ANSKA
January 29th* – February 26th, 2021
Blake & Vargas
Reichenberger Straße 72, Berlin

Photography: Philippe Gerlach