IN KLAIPĖDA – ADAUKTAS MARCINKEVIČIUS “OPTIMISTS AND SCEPTICS”

On the 16^th December, Friday, at 6 p.m. at KCCC exhibition hall (Didžioji Vandens g. 2, Klaipėda) a personal exhibition of Adauktas Marcinkevičius (1936 -1960) “Optimists and sceptics / photographs of 1954-1959”.   

The exhibition, organized by the National art gallery (NAG) andUnionof the Lithuanian art photographers department of Kaunas, is an act witnessing the historical return of the artist. The exhibition held in summer at NAG, in autumn in Kaunas department attracted a huge interest of the visitors and helped them to get to know the creations of A. Marcinkevičius. And now the residents of Klaipėda will have the opportunity to see and assess the works of the author.

Adauktas Marcinkevičius’ years of creative work coincided with the processes of “warming” in the Soviet Union, giving hope to finally breathe freely and dream broadly. Literature, art, theatre moving from the dead point, but photography, stuck in the webs of propaganda journalism, still stamped around. A young man in his twenties started working as a photojournalist and stepped into the environment where it was considered “how this art photography is supposed to look like” and here the unknown creative virgin lands were exposed.

The eye of the photographer was focused on actualities, but the visual speech appeared in expressivity, abundance of social details, and sensitivity to everyday life. The political situation was favourable to him and the other artists: they could speak up louder – instead of whispering, they could write more openly, they could photograph not only the ideological “truth”, but something more, so without wasting another minute of this special time, A. Marcinkevičius turned his photo lens to the personalities of the era. Having thought of collecing the portraits of the artists, he captured about 100 artists, musicians and writers.

However, the author was attracted to artistic expression and while receding from pure documentalism, he immersed himself in poetic images. The author tried to escape the prevailing social realism not by searching for innovative solutions, but by returning to the safe, time-tested experience and raised the same questions that the pioneers of photography have raised in the beginning of the 20th century: about the meaning of the scene, the aesthetics and status of art photography, the calling of the photographer. Pictorial expression was A. Marcinkevičius’ favourite: impression, subjective impression, associativity, soft and dim texture and picturesque effects. Other noticeable stylistic direction of the photographer is constructivism. In these photographs the author focuses on the capacity of the photographic form, searched for the geometricism of objects, their emphasized laconic perspective. Youthful flight, the desire to experiment with new materials and trying out many swarming idee fixe are noticeable in the works.

Curator of the exhibition Margarita Matulytė.

Organizers: National gallery of art and Union of the Lithuanian art photographers department of Kaunas, initiators of the exhibition in Klaipėda: Union of the Lithuanian art photographers department of Klaipėda, sponsors: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuanian council for culture.

The exhibition will be opened until 15th January, 2017.

Ticket – 1,70 / 0,85 €.

KCCC Exhibition hall (Didžioji Vandens g. 2, Klaipėda) working hours: Wednesday – Sunday 11 a.m.- 7 p.m.