ŽIVILĖ MINKUTĖ’S EXHIBITION „OUT OF MY SKIN”

Živilė Minkutė’s exhibition of installations “Out of My Skin“ is exhibited at the Exhibition Hall of Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre (KCCC) (2 Didžioji Vandens St., Klaipėda)  since 4 pm Friday, 7th May, 2021.

The main narrative of the exhibition is the body and the encounter with its corporeality. The body is presented  at an unusual angle for the daily happenings, that is through skin fragment imprints. In the installation Živilė Minkutė presents the body as inevitability, as a network of relationships with others, with the environment and with oneself. It is the latter that is often the most complex, revealing itself as a never-ending process of creation and re-creation, as a constant tension and gap between one’s bodily reality and aspiration arising from the inside or images inevitably flowing into us.

Živilė Minkutė „Out of my skin“,
photo by Laurynas Skeisgiela

According to the artist, trying to get closer to ourselves, or speaking more precisely – to the image of ourselves, we change our body, modify it and imprint various signs on it: we tell stories about ourselves, convey values ​​and identity, draw the attention of others to certain parts of the body or just disguise them with the help of tattoos, earrings, clothes and / or hairstyles. It is a kind of control imprint in one‘s body, an aesthetic movement from the universal to the exclusive (from just the body to my body). Ž. Minkutė reverses this axis using the body as a graphic cliché, creating at first glance abstract but full of recognizable shape and skin texture monotypes. She combines scanner-captured body images into three-minute audiovisual works. The minimalistic, pulsating image brings the viewer closer to a ritualistic, performative process that speaks of real pressure on the entire body area and the perception that you are here and that so it will be.

Živilė Minkutė „Out of my skin“,
photo by Laurynas Skeisgiela

“Out of My Skin“ is not only about bodily experience, but also an attempt to erase the boundaries of the media, re-talk the graphic and analyse it with digital means of capture. At the same time the exhibition encourages to reflect on the prevailing stereotypes of the ideal body and the cult of beauty.

“The theme of the body has always been relevant and covers various contexts. Physical differences become a feature of exclusion, for example, leading to social problems such as racism or sexism. The ideal body has become a symbol of beauty which can be expressed both through a healthy lifestyle and through the cult of beauty by the help of plastic surgery. I think we could find more than one topic that is conveyed on the social plane through the prism of the physical body. However, I am interested in the motive of personal freedom that unites all the themes, which led to the creation of these installations,” says the author of the exhibition.

Živilė Minkutė „Out of my skin“,
photo by Laurynas Skeisgiela

Živilė Minkutė (b. 1990) represents the artists of the young generation. In 2015 she graduated from Vilnius Academy of Arts in graphic studies, in the years of 2012–2013 she studied at the École Supérieure d’Art de Lorraine in Metz, France. Since 2012 she has been participating in exhibitions, international projects and residencies in Lithuania, France, Latvia, China, Russia, India and Belgium, and has organized six personal exhibitions.

The exhibition has been organized by Vilnius City Hall, the project is financed by the Lithuanian Culture Council.

The exhibition will run until 6th June 2021. 

KCCC Exhibition Hall (2 Didžioji Vandens St., Klaipėda) working hours: Wednesday – Sunday 11 am – 7 pm. (closed on public holidays).

In case of the lock down restrictions, it is necessary for the visitors of KCCC Exhibition Hall to comply with certain requirements: to purchase tickets online at tiketa.lt or paying by a bank card at the cash desk of the Exhibition Hall. Everyone older than 6 years of age should wear a mask to protect the mouth and nose and to disinfect the hands. A distance of 2 meters should be observed in the exhibition halls. Visitors are admitted in groups of no more than two people (this restriction does not apply to families).