VILNIUS - If the gray weather, the windy spring or your mundane job has gotten you down, head to the Meno Nisa art gallery and brighten up your day with a splash of colorful fantasy. Here a family of artists, specifically Marius Jonutis and Nomeda Marcenaite, are saying hello to Vilnius by presenting their newest works in an exhibition called "Labas" ("Hello"), which urges us all to prepare for the coming summer.
The springtime collaboration has already become something of a tradition for the pair 's this is their fourth joint exhibition at Meno Nisa. Both Jonutis and Marcenaite are well known in Lithuania. Jonutis' paintings, wood carvings and installations aren't only seen on the walls of galleries, but also appear as illustrations in children's books. And the ceramic paintings and sculptures created by Marcenaite, who is also a well-known talk show host on TV3, are loved by the public.
Stepping into the gallery is like entering a whole new world filled with flowers, blue and yellow people and strange creatures. The paintings and the wood carvings by Marius Jonutis breathe with the freshness of spring and beautiful summer nights. The people in the paintings seem to be at one with the blossoming flora and little creatures. Wooden trees appear to be growing right out of wooden pots, but instead of ordinary leaves they bloom with tender words, strange fruits and flowers. The gallery is filled with love beaming from the paintings. "You are beautiful," Jonutis tells the world through his works. Sometimes it even seems that the artist creates his works in the manner of a child playing in a meadow.
Marcenaite adds to the impression when she presents her ceramic sculptures to the public. The harmony between humans and nature lies in every sculpture: flowers with human legs, a sheep with a human face and a creature that's part fish and part woman All these sculptures are a bit naive, but full of the feminine sensibility and childlike fantasy. Little imperfections make the sculptures unique, glowing with warmth and urging you to touch them.
"I imagine, I draw, I model, but they are different. They [the sculptures] resemble the drawings, but they are different," says Nomeda Marcenaite about the process of creating her sculptures. Of course, we have no idea what her sketches are like, but her sculptures seem to be taken right out of a fantasy world. In fact, when looking at some of the sculptures you half expect them to start talking or move their little feet.
If you expect to drop by for only a couple of minutes, be warned 's once you start perusing these works, it's difficult to get your eyes off them. A visit to this exhibition is a good way to recharge your energy: long after you leave the gallery a warm feeling has filled your heart to brim, urging you to look at the world from a more playful perspective. And if you decide to take a piece of this fantasy home, you can 's the works are indeed for sale.
Meno nisa
J.Basanaviciaus 1/13, Vilnius
Working hours:
II-V 12:00's19:00,
VI 12:00-16:00
