Loose Tails is a new exhibition by artist and writer Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė opening at Atletika gallery on 12 April 2023, 7 pm. Exhibition architecture was created by Ona Juciūtė.
“Your untied tongue ran across my floor like a loose shoelace. A swarm of multiplying snakes. I told you to list all the orange things in the room as fast as you could without thinking. It didn’t work. It seemed to you that your body was falling apart, each limb got its own little consciousness and holes were opening in every word. I was convinced I knew these situations. I was sure that when this moment came, I’d react in a flash, and everything would land on a soft pillow. I switched to slow motion instead. I turned into a sluggish thing about to cocoon itself and roll under the bed waiting for better tomorrows. My tongue turned into a slug ready to save the day that has already turned into evening.”
“It doesn’t take much for things to get out of hand. A fluff forgets your wish the second it flies out of your palm. The lizard drops its tail in your moment of fear.”
Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė is an artist of the young generation who weaves conversations and connections between the human body, clothes and architecture. In the Loose Tails exhibition the themes of incompleteness, letting go and the play of the imagination are prominent, revealed in a soft but clearly structured crochet. The exhibited works lay relaxed like lizards on warm stones. The architecture for this exhibition was created by Ona Juciūtė.
Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė participated in the exhibition JCDecaux prize 2020: The Words I Have at the Contemporary Art Center (Vilnius, Lithuania), her works were shown at the Rupert center for art, residences and education (Vilnius, Lithuania), the project space Podium (Oslo, Norway), the international contemporary and modern art exhibition at EXPO Chicago (Chicago, USA) and elsewhere.
Ona Juciūtė lives and works in Vilnius. She had solo shows at the Editorial project space, Vilnius and The Center for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry, United Kingdom. She also participated in group exhibitions at the MOCAK Museum in Krakow, the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius, the parallel program of the Istanbul Biennale, the National Art Gallery in Vilnius, the Kaunas Artists’ House, Atletika, RUPERT, Swallow project space in Vilnius, etc. She participated in residency programs at AIR Niederosterreich in Austria, Stiftung Künstlerdorf in Germany and Diyalog Istanbul in Turkey. In 2021, her sculptures became part of the permanent collection of Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki. She was awarded the first JCDecaux prize and the one-time grant by the Lithuanian-American artist Aleksandra Kašuba.
Exhibition opening 12 April 2023, 7 pm., opening music by DJ Alenas.
Exhibition runs 13 April – 13 May 2023, Wednesdays to Fridays 4–7 pm., Saturdays 1–5 pm.
Address: Atletika gallery Vitebsko str. 21, Vilnius.
Exhibition tour with the artist 29 April 4.30 pm.
Exhibition design: Studio Cryo.
Organised by the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. Activities of LIAA are funded by Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality. Main information partner 15min.
Exhibition sponsored by AB „Wienerberger“ and UAB „BAUEN“.
Photos by Laurynas Skeisgiela