EGLĖ VELANIŠKYTĖ’S PAINTING EXHIBITION „I AM COMING“

 

 

On the 11th of January, 2019, on friday, at 6 pm at KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens st. 2, Klaipėda) Eglė Velaniškytė’s painting exhibition „I am coming“ is opening. On Saturday, the 12th of January, at 12 am the artist invites you to a tour of her works’ exhibition.

The first Klaipėda residents’ acquaintance with creative work of Eglė Velaniškytė happened in 2010, when the artist was exhibiting her exhibition of works “Waiting for the picture” at Klaipėda Gallery. After nine years, the artist returns to the seaport with the cycle of paintings „I am coming“, which she started in the year 2016 and which also dictated the title of the exhibition, as well as some other creative work. Also you can find drawings of painter’s daughter Miglė Borisevičiūtė at the exhibition.

Eglė Velaniškytė tells the story of God in the canvas of the cycle “I am coming”. By creating painful, limiting or, on the contrary, full of tranquility scenes, the painter opens up the imperfection of sacredness and brings God closer to a man. This is what the artist said about the causes of this topic during one interview, „ In the autumn of 2015 I wasn’t painting, because both inside and outside it was dark, I read a lot of books on historical themes and then I became ashamed; I realized that the holiness and Jesus Christ came just at the right time because our history is very catastrophic. <…> The exhibition is about us, people, yet deliberately formulated through religious themes”.

Eglė Velaniškytė’s creative work is characterized by expressive pictorial language, a palette of earthy tones and halftones, clarified by the golden glow, which highlights the dynamic compositions of paintings. Though the dynamics in the works is not expressed vividly, energetic, because it does not arise from the resistance or fight – it helps to reveal the moment of the present, spreading of seriousness, reconciliation and hope.

According to art critic Miglė Munderzbakaitė, „a human, with rare exceptions, remains in the center of figurative painting developing artist’s creative work. <…> E. Velaniškytė’s human is involved in various life situations, which are full of seriousness, calmness and, on the contrary, restlessness. <…> The works painted in recent years reveal not only E. Velaniškytė’s productivity, but also a certain creative breakthrough. In the exhibition you can notice bigger dynamics of shown shapes and the motion. Previously dominated quite moderate and calm colour palette is being changed into brighter color contrasts, bolder brush movements, sharper strokes. There are some pieces of art in the exhibition, which seem getting free from clenching, orderliness, and instead of it – offering tension, intensity of a thought and expression“.

About the author

Eglė Velaniškytė was born in Kaunas city, in 1976 – finished Kaunas Four-year Children’s Art School, 1976-1982 – studied at Vilnius Art Institute, Painting Department, since 1992 – member of Lithuanian Artists’ Association. E. Velaniškytė started organizing personal exhibitions in the year 1980, she has participated in group exhibitions since 1979. The artist not only paints, but also engages in pedagogical activities – she organizes educational lessons at Kaunas Picture Gallery, also shares her knowledge of painting techniques and educates future young artists.

E. Velaniškytė, the representative of the so-called „Break“ generation, has created a recognizable, extraordinary style, characterized by the development of figurative painting and professional mastery. The painter belonged to the famous course of artists (Š. Sauka, V. Paukštė, P. Griušys, A. Petrašiūnaitė). In the mid-1980s of the 20th century, she, so as many other young artists of that time, left the city. Together with dissident Justinas Mikutis, who worked as a poser at the Art Institute, they were traveling around Lithuania, studying nature and collecting the art of folk.

When it comes to the artist’s creative work, a very creative and qualitative period of Salakas’s recluse is often emphasized. E. Velaniškytė spent fifteen years (1985-2000) in the Sabalunkai village (Zarasai district) of the Salakas eldership, in the old family farmstead. E. Velaniškytė’s style and themes have formed in Salakas – expressive painting with gloomy earthy colors and personalized biblical themes.

The exhibition will be open until February 3, 2019.

Working hours of KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens st. 2, Klaipėda): Wednesday – Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. (Closed during public holidays).