Photo reportage from the group show ‘Hopes & Slopes’ at the Atletika gallery

An exhibition by a group of young artists titled Hopes & Slopes is a place for a safe walk among what has fallen out a few months back. Dust and scattered memories; meanings lost in translations and primeval human found by the world tree somewhere nearby; advice on how to feel alive after falling out of this tree with a traumatic fracture (or after having lost one’s head), a gaze of a drone watching the drying laundry in a courtyard of a city district and non-existent cities roaring in texts… the artworks are just like various objects stored in tin boxes, which got there under various circumstances – they smile, they grin, they exhibit what they are longing for.

This is an exhibition about time measured in hopes. Its measuring units are slopes which were scattered after human heads covered with masks were dewed from exhaled air and anxiety. The artworks of Hopes & Slopes hover like fairy tales – you need to find yourself in the right place at the right time and then the portal to the other reality will open. But be cautious! While you are there, you may be bitten by the stories from photographs, or by strange creatures from sound recordings; some of them are climbing the walls, drifting in texts, stealing faces and pretending to be you, because of this inhuman solitude. Caution is the parent of safety, see where you meander – slopes!

Pretext: The title Hopes & Slopes originated from almost a year-long discussions on the relationship between young artists and and the art scene, also on how artists could change this relationship themselves. The exhibition is curated by eight young artists, all of whom are students at Vilnius Academy of Arts, Photography and Media Art Department. All participants of the exhibition are 1–3 year students at the same department.

This exhibition is partially open in a virtual gallery: http://www.iltys.eu/   ^[1]

Participating artists: Agata Tracevič, Ainė Petkūnaitė, Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė, Danielius Šermukšnis, Deinora Rudėnaitė, Edvinas Sinkevičius, Gabrielė Oržekauskaitė, Jokūbas Verbickas, Mantė Baranauskaitė, Miglė Markulytė, Kasparas Pilinkus, Rokas Ilčiukas, Bernadeta Brazdžionytė, Dagnė Petkevičiūtė, Viktorija Balkutė, Eva Rodz, Ieva Akelaitytė, Jokūbas Vaicekauskas, Kornelija Kupstaitė, Kotryna Šarkanaitė, Greta Galiauskaitė, Margarita Valionytė, Pijus Chraptavičius, Žilvinas Baranauskas

Curatorial team: Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė, Danielius Šermukšnis, Deinora Rudėnaitė, Edvinas Sinkevičius, Gabrielė Oržekauskaitė, Jokūbas Verbickas, Mantė Baranauskaitė, Miglė Markulytė

Architecture: Vaida Barbora Linartaitė

Exhibition dates: 3–6 June 2020

Location: Atletika (Vitebsko 21, Vilnius)
Organised by Vilnius Academy of Arts and Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association.

Partly supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture.
www.letmekoo.lt/atletika ^[2]

Photography: Laurynas Skeisgiela