Friday night "Litexpo", the opening ceremony of the 14th international contemporary art fair "ArtVilnius'23" took place in the exhibition and conference center. The best of this year are awarded in it.
Lithuanian Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys participated in the opening ceremony of "ArtVilnius'23". Vilnius city mayor Valdas Benkunskas, Jonas Sakalauskas, head of the Lithuanian exhibition and congress center Litexpo.
Since Friday morning, the evaluation committee, headed by art critic, curator of contemporary art exhibitions, prof. Dr. Raminta Jurėnaitė, chose the 7 best galleries of the "ArtVilnius'23" fair, the best artist of the exhibition, the best young artist and the best installation of the fair.
The international judging panel, which, in addition to Professor R. Jurėnaitė, also included Zane Onckule, program director of the "Kim?" Contemporary Art Center in Riga, art historian, curator and coordinator of the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, Mirosława Bałazy, one of the gallery "Georg Kargl Fine Arts Melanie Wagner, founder and head of the Crème de la Crème Haute Parfumerie boutique chain, art collector Andrius Remiševskis in Vienna.
Prizes for the best artists and installations
The commission recognized the artist of the Užupis Art Incubator Julija Skudutytė as the best young artist of "ArtVilnius'23". The commission noted the unique work of the artist, in which realistic everyday motifs are combined with elements of fantasy, creating intimate, sensitive stories. The artist was awarded a EUR 2000 bonus by the fair's patron, the Cobalt law firm.
The commission awarded the title of the best artist of "ArtVilnius'23" to the Latvian artist Pauliis Liepa. "This is one of the most prominent authors of the exhibition," said the chairperson of the commission, R. Jurėnaitė. - Classical graphic techniques, woodcuts, building plans, manuscripts, and archive metaphors meet in his work. At first glance, minimalist works have many nuances and connotations. It is an art that uniquely and sensitively balances between geometric abstractions and conceptual art." Mr. Liepa was awarded the "Crème de la Crème" prize of 3000 euros.
Monika Žaltauskaitė-Grašienė's object "Moon Sea" installed in the space of the exhibition "Takas" was announced as the best installation of "ArtVilnius'23". Jacquard is the artist's favorite technique. According to R. Jurėnaitė, her work at the fair is monochrome, graphic, delicate, moody, very poetic and unexpectedly combined with the jacquard weaving technique. The author of the best installation was awarded a 2000 euro bonus, which was established by the sponsor of the fair, Scandinavia fintech company Vipps MobilePay.
Seven best galleries
The 7 best galleries of "ArtVilnius'23" are traditionally announced on the opening night. The commissioners appreciated their vivid programs and well-prepared, well-thought-out expositions.
The VDA gallery "5 mills" bribed and convinced the judging panel with interesting works, recording the performances of artists - Dainius Liškevičius, Laima Kreivytė, Monika Dirsytė, Česlov Lukensk. "Each of these documents could be a completely independent work," said R. Jurėnaitė.
Māksla XO, one of the most famous and popular contemporary art galleries in Riga, was recognized for its well-thought-out, elegant, conceptual and best artist presentation program of the fair.
This year, the Vilnius gallery "Meno niša" was among the best, and for many years it has been marked by more than one evaluation committee, but refused the award. "This flawed practice needs to be ended," said the chairperson of the commission, R. Jurėnaitė, who emphasized that it is particularly interesting to recognize young artists whose careers the gallery seems to be maturing in Meno niša.
The commission also noted Vilnius gallery "MOrka". "This is not a boring gallery," said the chairman of the commission. - She seems to be trying to show unrelated works of art, but that conscious display of contradictory things is amazingly fascinating. The image of the bad guys enriches the art scene."
In Užupi The Room Gallery, which has modest premises, for the ArtVilnius'23 art fair, in the opinion of the commission, prepared an impeccably good, unique program that combines abstraction and figurative art, creating series and summarizing dreams. "This gallery managed to clearly shape its face," said R. Jurėnaitė.
"The Rooster Gallery" in Vilnius has been noted for its ability to reflect new trends and trends in painting. For constantly monitoring the art scene and trying to maintain a relationship with what the art world lives.
The commission also appreciated the choice of VDA Telšiai art gallery to display sculpture works that reflect the strength of sculpture art in this region.
The fair will continue on Saturday and Sunday
12 art galleries and institutions, 70 artists from 300 countries of the world will be located in the center's three main halls and the field - an area of 18 thousand square meters. The program organizers and curators of the international contemporary art fair "ArtVilnius'23" have prepared a program for the visitors of the fair, the most important emphasis of which this year is performativity.
The main gallery program of ArtVilnius'23 and Litexpo stands will be located in halls 5 and 3.
In the international exhibition of sculptures, installations and performances "Takas", which is curated by the artist, head of the VDA Sculpture Department doc. Vytenis Burokas, this year - 16 artists from Lithuania and abroad.
Contemporary art curator, writer Valentinas Klimašauskas named the project zone program of this year's international fair "ArtVilnius'23" "Today, yesterday, tomorrow". The program is dedicated to events, the possibility and impossibility of repetition, today, which is affected by yesterday and which will undoubtedly affect tomorrow.
