Vanue: Gallery BALTA
(M. Valančiaus g. 21, Kaunas)
S3 ASIA—EUROPE. FIBER ART.
2 October 2009 — 30 November
Opening: Friday, 2 October 2009, 6:00p.m.
Artists: Marie-Noëlle Fontan (France), Nobuko Hiroi (Japan), Haruko Honma (Japan), Yoshio Ikezaki (Japan), Kakuko Ishii (Japan), Mitsue Ito (Japan), Yasuko Iyanaga (Japan), Kim Jung-Ju (South Korea), Ken Kagajo (Japan), Kumiko Kuroda (Japan), Wang Kyung-Ae (South Korea), Federica Luzzi (Italy), Erny Piret (Belgium), Yoko Sakai (Japan), Hidemasa Sakihama (Japan), Koko Shimomura (Japan), Marialuisa Sponga (Italy), Kyoko Ueda (Japan), Rieko Yashiro (Japan), Jo Young-Hee (South Korea), Sabine Zeiler (Germany).
It is not worth talking too much when the exhibition covers two continents, from Europe to Asia! From the Atlantic washing over French beaches and mussels to the Pacific washing over Japanese crabs and the Kurile Islands. And the fibres used for this exhibition would, perhaps, be enough to girdle if not Japan, if not Belgium, then at least a kebab shop near you!
First of all, the curator Erny Piret did not want the audience to wander around this intercontinental exhibition aimlessly; instead, they wanted to make people follow it closely, sincerely and methodically and discover the origins of such fibre art. It is always influenced by something: by the artist’s experience, attitudes and philosophies, even by the most banal personal characteristics. It is very likely that the artists have chosen a particular fibre depending on their attitudes and the qualities of materials: strong, soft, shiny, and glittering or, perhaps, transparent… This is fibre psychoanalysis for you..! The personality of every artist is well on view, and the genesis of the work of art is conspicuous.
Artists have been selected for this exhibition without rules, quotas or principles, only according to a trivial magic quality: ‘talent’. And they have been allowed to choose almost anything: the subject of their work, the materials, the size and even the colour. The only requirement was that it had to fit into our Gallery Balta. Erny Piret has never doubted that works shown in this exhibition are innovative, if not for their technique, then for their theme.
Finally, the curator simply did her damnedest – just to make the exhibition cosy, attractive and visitor-friendly, not frightening, not shocking, but offering a joyful and comfortable environment to share experiences and smile.
Virginija Vitkiene
Exhibition galery
