L’ÉTREINTE - EMBRACEMENT – GLAMONĖ: Group exhibition dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the famous Lithuanian modernist Antanas Mončys.

9 September - 5 November 2021
Overview

The exhibition is dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the famous Lithuanian modernist artist Antanas Mončys.

 

3D Exhibition tour

Opening on 9 Septembe, 2021 at 6 PM

9 September – 5 November, 2021

Curators: Linas Bliškevičius and Yates Norton.

Artists: Antanas Mončys and Arturas Bumšteinas, Viltė Bražiūnaitė & Tomas Sinkevičius, Robertas Narkus, Deimantas Narkevičius, Marija Puipaitė, Vytautas Gečas, Neringa Vasiliauskaitė, Laurynas Skeisgiela, Martynas Kazimierėnas, Indrė Šerpytytė.

 

Sometimes critics write that a sculptor fights with the material. But why should we fight with it? We embrace one another.

- Antanas Mončys

 

This exhibition presents works by Antanas Mončys, many of which have never been shown in Lithuania, alongside new commissions by the contemporary Lithuanian artists, Artūras Bumšteinas, Deimantas Narkevičius, Indrė Šerpytytė, Laurynas Skeisgiela, Neringa Vasiliauskaitė, Marija Puipaitė & Vytautas Gečas, Robertas Narkus, Viltė Bražiūnaitė & Tomas Sinkevičius, and Martynas Kazimierėnas. The exhibition focuses on Mončys’s interest in the body, material, craft and how central intimacy and curiosity are to the creative processes –– qualities we see shared in the practices of the contemporary artists.

The exhibition highlights Mončys’s recurrent use of hands, mouths and worm-like, intestinal shapes that unfold, enfold, digest and embrace. These shifting morphological motifs testify to Mončys’s affinity to a ‘folk baroque’ of spiralling , curvilinear forms and his commitment to the deep pleasure that comes from working with, rather than against materials.  However, Mončys’s playful approach to making is not limited by any dogma of ‘truth to materials’ or a hierarchy of arts over craft.  Looking through his work we see instead how he explores camouflage and dissimulation, ornament and decor, play and imagination in a way that situates his work in a broad field of modern artistic styles as much as in the legacies of Lithuanian folk culture.

The contemporary artists have all made new commissions for this exhibition, often drawing on features of Mončys’s work that have a particular resonance with their own practices and contemporary concerns. In this way, we see how the twisted and darkly humorous qualities of Mončys’s practice find their parallels in the contemporary artists’ interest in challenging our assumptions about technology –– whether traditional or cutting edge –– and the ways in which it can be manipulated, used and ‘misused’ to create works that emphasise their own ‘artfulness’. Like Mončys’s own work, the artists’ practices are rooted in ambivalence, where difference and difficulty are embraced, and categories and meanings are held in unresolved suspension. In this way, all the artists show how materials and processes are not merely the support of meaning and concepts, but the site at which ideas of sincerity, intimacy, awkwardness and theatricality are played with and played out.

In particular, the exhibition focuses on how Mončys and the artists look at the body, matter and craft, focusing on how they see the creative process not as an imposition of form on passive matter, but as an ongoing dialogue between body, material, imagination, traditions, histories and place. By looking closely at the role of craft, artisanship and play in these artists' work, the exhibition seeks to draw out alternative narratives and legacies of modernism and abstraction.  In doing so, the exhibition asks in what ways Mončys’s sensibility and work continue to resonate with urgent contemporary concerns about the ways in which our bodies are interdependent with the environment and materials we live with.

 

Graphic design: Taktika Studio.

Patron: Renata ir Rolandas Valiūnai.

The exhibition supported by: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, JCDecaux.

Gallery supported by: Vilnius city municipality, Lietuvos Rytas, Vilma Dagilienė, Romas Kinka, VšĮ „Meno fondas“, Ekskomisarų biuras.

Installation Views
Works
  • Antanas Mončys L’étreinte, Year unknown 52 (H) x 20 (W) x 28 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    L’étreinte, Year unknown
    52 (H) x 20 (W) x 28 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Equilibrium, 1960 34 (H) x6 (W) x9 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Equilibrium, 1960
    34 (H) x6 (W) x9 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Eugene, 1962 31 (H) x7 (W) x 5.3 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Eugene, 1962
    31 (H) x7 (W) x 5.3 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Acrobate, Year unknown 20 (H) x 10 (W) x 6 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Acrobate, Year unknown
    20 (H) x 10 (W) x 6 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Main fermée, Year unknown 33 (H) x 14 (W) x 6 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Main fermée, Year unknown
    33 (H) x 14 (W) x 6 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Main fossile, Year unknown 46 (H) x 22 (W) x 18 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Main fossile, Year unknown
    46 (H) x 22 (W) x 18 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys The Prophet, 1969 63 (H) x 18 (W) x 15 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    The Prophet, 1969
    63 (H) x 18 (W) x 15 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Mouvements dynamiques, Year unknown 42,5 (H) x 28 (W) x 6 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Mouvements dynamiques, Year unknown
    42,5 (H) x 28 (W) x 6 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Collines sensuelles, Year unknown 44 (H) x 27 (W) x 6 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Collines sensuelles, Year unknown
    44 (H) x 27 (W) x 6 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Scum, 1968 28 (H) x 24 (W) x 17 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Scum, 1968
    28 (H) x 24 (W) x 17 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Vers dressé, Year unknown 61 (H) x 24 (W) x 24 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Vers dressé, Year unknown
    61 (H) x 24 (W) x 24 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Happy Hand, 1970 27 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Happy Hand, 1970
    27 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Wurm, Year unknown 61 (H) x 17 (W) x 17 (D) cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Wurm, Year unknown
    61 (H) x 17 (W) x 17 (D) cm
  • Antanas Mončys Playing Hand, 1970 27 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Playing Hand, 1970
    27 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Hands embraced, 1970 21 X 30 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Hands embraced, 1970
    21 X 30 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Hand on flowers, 1969 25,05 X 20 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Hand on flowers, 1969
    25,05 X 20 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Encre, 1970 13 x 17,5 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Encre, 1970
    13 x 17,5 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Encre, 1970 10,5 x 14 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Encre, 1970
    10,5 x 14 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Full Hand, 1970 27 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Full Hand, 1970
    27 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Hand on circle, 1970 27 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Hand on circle, 1970
    27 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Hand on socle (Sculpture project), 1970 29,07 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Hand on socle (Sculpture project), 1970
    29,07 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Hands, 1970 27 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Hands, 1970
    27 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Hand with a raised finger, 1969 26 X 20 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Hand with a raised finger, 1969
    26 X 20 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Projets de sculptures, Year unknown 18 x 25 cm and 16 x 24 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Projets de sculptures, Year unknown
    18 x 25 cm and 16 x 24 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Untitled, 1972 14,5 x 19,5 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Untitled, 1972
    14,5 x 19,5 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Aquarelle, 1971 23,5 x 19 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Aquarelle, 1971
    23,5 x 19 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Close Hand, 1969 30 X 20 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Close Hand, 1969
    30 X 20 cm
  • Antanas Mončys The Hand and its elves, 1970 27 X 21 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    The Hand and its elves, 1970
    27 X 21 cm
  • Antanas Mončys Two Hands on approach, 1970 22 X 14 cm
    Antanas Mončys
    Two Hands on approach, 1970
    22 X 14 cm
  • Neringa Vasiliauskaitė Situation with a Vase, 2021 Appr. 70 x 20 cm 27 1/2 x 8 in
    Neringa Vasiliauskaitė
    Situation with a Vase, 2021
    Appr. 70 x 20 cm
    27 1/2 x 8 in
  • Marija Puipaitė From the series Devoted Surfaces, 2021 60 (H) x 63 (W) x 70 (D) cm
    Marija Puipaitė
    From the series Devoted Surfaces, 2021
    60 (H) x 63 (W) x 70 (D) cm
  • Vytautas Gečas A Holder, 2021 90(H) x 143(W) x 40(D) cm
    Vytautas Gečas
    A Holder, 2021
    90(H) x 143(W) x 40(D) cm
  • Laurynas Skeisgiela Liump! (a series of slowly flashing objects), 2021 16cm x 41cm x 6cm
  • Laurynas Skeisgiela Liump! (a series of slowly flashing objects), 2021 31cm x 30cm x 8cm
    Laurynas Skeisgiela
    Liump! (a series of slowly flashing objects), 2021
    31cm x 30cm x 8cm
    € 2,200.00
    Laurynas Skeisgiela, Liump! (a series of slowly flashing objects), 2021
    € 2,200.00
  • Viltė Bražiūnaitė ≈ Tomas Sinkevičius Sweet Nothings, 2021 48 x 35 x 1 cm
    Viltė Bražiūnaitė ≈ Tomas Sinkevičius
    Sweet Nothings, 2021
    48 x 35 x 1 cm
    € 2,800.00
    Viltė Bražiūnaitė ≈ Tomas Sinkevičius, Sweet Nothings, 2021
    € 2,800.00
  • Neringa Vasiliauskaitė Situation with a Curtain, 2021 Appr 200 x 120 cm 78 1/2 x 47 in
    Neringa Vasiliauskaitė
    Situation with a Curtain, 2021
    Appr 200 x 120 cm
    78 1/2 x 47 in
    € 6,000.00
  • Robertas Narkus rz[YLzdEr - Chiusure , 2021 150 x 100 cm 59 x 39 1/2 in
    Robertas Narkus
    rz[YLzdEr - Chiusure , 2021
    150 x 100 cm
    59 x 39 1/2 in
    € 3,600.00
    Robertas Narkus, rz[YLzdEr - Chiusure , 2021
    € 3,600.00
  • Robertas Narkus /*W6P{ - Chiusure , 2021 150 x 100 cm
    Robertas Narkus
    /*W6P{ - Chiusure , 2021
    150 x 100 cm
    € 3,600.00
    Robertas Narkus, /*W6P{ - Chiusure , 2021
    € 3,600.00
  • Indrė Šerpytytė Knot, 2021 30cm (DIA), 15cm (H)
    Indrė Šerpytytė
    Knot, 2021
    30cm (DIA), 15cm (H)
  • Martynas Kazimierėnas, Blow, 2021
    Martynas Kazimierėnas, Blow, 2021
  • Deimantas Narkevičius The Fifer, 2019 Dimensions variable
    Deimantas Narkevičius
    The Fifer, 2019
    Dimensions variable
Video