AN EXHIBITION “VILNIUS POKER” BY GRETA ALICE

An exhibition “Vilnius Poker” by an illustrator and an artist of the young generation Greta Alice, dedicated to Ričardas Gavelis novel will be opened at the KKKC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens str. 2, Klaipėda) on the 28th of June, 2019, Friday, at 5.30 PM.

Having been raised in Klaipėda, but currently residing and creating in Vilnius, the artist presents an artwork, which became a classic of the Lithuanian literature, in a way as if it was to portray universal situations regardless of their time.

“In my illustrations, the characters and situations are transferred into a world, which may be of today and into the situations familiar to the audience: trolleybuses, streets, bedroom communities. In other artworks, the coordinates of time and place disappear – I just give in to the atmosphere and density of the “Vilnius Poker”. Just like to Gavelis, the topics of the city and the body are important to me”, – says the artist.

The novel “Vilnius Poker” by Ričardas Gavelis – an artwork published in 1989 and today it is recognised as one of the most important works in the modern Lithuanian literature and also as one of the first critical testimonies about the life in the Soviet Union and the occupation of Lithuania. Due to the erotica demonstrated in the novel it is known to be especially scandalous and shocking to this day.

Greta Alice presented the exhibition dedicated to the piece in autumn of last year in Vilnius. According to the author, her illustrations, just like the Gavelis’ book, get dual reactions: support or resentment, though the latter is rarely expressed openly.

“It seems that no one is left indifferent, however, to the majority, Ričardas Gavelis is firstly associated to the elements of erotica. I have read comments under a few articles, which were dedicated to the exhibition, saying who could be interested in such “trash”. I could determine reactions according to age: a majority of youth have rediscovered the Lithuanian literature with “Vilnius Poker”, after all, this novel today is becoming more and more popular. Some, that have not read the book, said that they could not even imagine that a Lithuanian writer could have written such a novel. Many older people attended the exhibition and shared their memories from the 1989, when the book was first published: what a shock it caused, when everybody rushed to read the book because of those episodes of erotica”, – says Greta Alice.

The author opens up that when presenting her exhibition in Klaipėda she is a bit shy – though she grew up here, graduated from the Eduardas Balsys Gymnasium of Arts, but after living in Vilnius for 7 years, she feels distant from her hometown. Regardless, she says that on the occasion of the exhibition, she expects to establish connections with the creators of Klaipėda. According to the artist, the illustrations of the “Vilnius Poker” are also a consequence of this intermediate state of being between the few cities.

“It is probably because of the fact that I was born and raised in Klaipėda that I cannot tame Vilnius. My first acquaintance with Vilnius happened in my teenage years when I was reading “Vilnius Poker”. From that moment until now Vilnius remains alien, mythical city, where there is nothing else you can do but observe it and be astonished by it”, – the artist defines her creative position.

About the author:

Greta Alice (born in 1992) is an artist of the young generation, book illustrator, having completed the bachelor and master studies of graphics in the Vilnius Academy of Arts. For her both final theses she created interpretational illustrations for the works of Ričardas Gavelis. A member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association. Participates in group exhibitions and has held 7 personal exhibitions. Was awarded a diploma of the Art of the Book for the illustrations of the personal “Vilnius Poker” project, in 2016 was awarded with Vytautas Jurkūnas prize. The characters inspired by the artwork of Ričardas Gavelis were presented in the London illustrations fair, as well as in Kaunas, Šiauliai, Mažeikiai and Vilnius.

The exhibition will be open until the 28th of July, 2019.

Working hours of KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens str. 2, Klaipėda): Wednesday – Sunday 11 AM – 7 PM (not open on public holidays).

The event will be photographed and filmed, therefore, we would like to inform that the visitors may be seen in the pictures and video recordings from the event, and that these photographs and video recordings may be made public on social media or the press.