Liucija Kvašytė, God Save the Punks (detail)
Situated in a former monastery ensemble and surrounded by other sacral buildings and monuments, Vilnius Academy of Arts remains a community of faith even in the contemporary world of pragmatic creative industries. Even the name of the Academy’s main exhibition space where the Faith exhibition is displayed – the Titanic – alludes to faith in success regardless of all the possible adverse circumstances.
What do the members of this community believe in? At the very least they believe that artistic work and studies of art are meaningful and necessary, while art itself has more that just material value. Comprehension of art requires faith as well – where other see ordinary objects or actions, the “initiated” recognise important ideas. The central exhibition of Art Cells 2016 seeks to reveal the various meanings of the word “faith” in today’s context of art studies and artistic life through selected graduation (and not only) works by students of various study levels and programs.
The works featured in the exhibition consciously or coincidentally explore and interpret the phenomenon of faith from different perspectives. Some exploit or imitate traditional sacral or mythological iconography or rites, others create new rituals for a society which has lost faith in its traditional forms, and some search for personal faith or deity, when the ones the environment offers them do not bring a sense of completeness. Faith also acquires some controversial meanings here – for instance, faith in hedonism or passions as the highest good, faith in the objectivity and truthfulness of scientific hypotheses, faith in the image as a proof of reality of truth.
The darker side of faith flashes in the exhibition as well: some works deal with belief in apocalyptic, catastrophic scenarios of the future or even the present. Although it would seem that faith is inseparable from hope and optimism, it appears that in today’s world they are increasingly often replaced by the conviction that humanity’s present situation or even existence as such has no foreseeable happy end, and we are essentially standing by the grave of our civilisation. It is important to address this too.
Jurij Dobriakov, curator
Exhibition view, Vilnius Art Academy exhibition halls “Titanikas”, 2016
Exhibition view, Vilnius Art Academy exhibition halls “Titanikas”, 2016
Exhibition view, Vilnius Art Academy exhibition halls “Titanikas”, 2016
Andrius Mikalauskas, Restored painting The Holy Rosary of the Virgin Mary
Rasma Noreikytė, Code / Skin, Hand weaving, horizontal loom, 50 x 80 cm (30 pieces)
Tomas Daukša, Systems Driven Out of Equilibrium
Monika Urbutytė, The Place of Memory, Photograph, 1 x 1,5 m
Jolita Kuzmenkovaitė, I Thirst, White clay, stamping / molding / engraving tracery (composition of 28 objects arranged in a circle)
Liucija Kvašytė, God Save the Punks, Experimental clothing collection
Valentyn Odnoviun, Investigation
Inga Navickaitė, Super Duper, Book: risography print, 14,8 x 21 cm, animation, silkscreen prints
Liucija Kvašytė, God Save the Punks
Liucija Kvašytė, God Save the Punks (detail)
Ekvilina Milaševičiūtė, Always on
Exhibition view, Vilnius Art Academy exhibition halls “Titanikas”, 2016
Marija Stonytė, The Museum of Science, Conversion of the Kučkuriškės paper mill into a technology and science education centre, architectural model, 70 x 115 x 180
Eglė Butukutė,From the series 1, Oil on canvas, 2,15 x 1,65 m, 2,5 x 1,03 m
Dovydas Korba, Flight in the White Cube, Video installation, steel tubes, PVC fabric, 3 x 3 x 3 m
Zigmas Vagonis, Non/existent Father, Digital prints, installation
Zigmas Vagonis, Non/existent Father, Digital prints, installation
Vladimir Leleiva, Wardrobe, Series of prints, drypoint
Dainius Obcarskas, The Body, Video, digital manipulation
Neringa Akcilonaitytė, Threat, Chamotte, glaze and engobes, metal frame, light and smoke connection
Photography: Valentyn Odnoviun
