JUDITA LIAUDANSKAITĖ “A GLANCE AT SAN FRANCISCO”

JUDITOS LIAUDANSKAITĖS FOTOGRAFIJŲ PARODA

On the 15th of May, 2020, on Friday, at 6:00 pm at KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens str. 2, Klaipėda), exhibition “A glance at San Francisco” by Judita Liaudanskaitė will be opened.

We usually search for ourselves not where we should be at the time. And that’s amazing, because in this case, the quest path is endless, never-ending, ready to seduce us and test us in other ways. San Francisco, also known as the city of gold-seekers or witches, cannot be an exception for a person who has decided to seek for himself. Kaunas’ photographic artist Judita Liaudanskaitė herself was unexpectedly surprised that her feet are walking on the land of the state of California, and her gaze is attracted like a magnet by the Golden Gate Bridge. In fact, it is not easy to take your eyes off what is beautiful in San Francisco, however, the artist resists the enchanting beauty of this city and through her camera lens, using her own unique technique, begins to look for signs that speak about its uniqueness and originality. Just as each individual has a unique own smell, so does the cities have specific signs by which we can assess its selfhood.

The images of the city captured in J. Liaudanskaitė’s photographs create an atmosphere of authenticity, that visual paradigm, that speaks not of the images of aesthetics rendered by the front doors, but of its essence. San Francisco is one of the cradles of abstractionism. It is no coincidence that in J. Liaudanskaitė’s photographs we see paraphrases of works by Richard Diebenkorn, a representative of the second generation of abstract expressionism. The spirit of madcap San Francisco is captured in other photographs: the hipster movement began here; only here free opinion fights the corporation diktat and only here has it traditionally happened that gays can live in the friendly surrounding environment. All these signs become the object of J. Liaudanskaitė’s photographs, and it is difficult to say whether the artist’s inner intuition or preconceived city study leads her from one city sign to another, and their symbiosis unquestionably tells us about the coherence of these photographs and the feeling of the city.

The global threats that become within the reach because of globalization are not left behind either. It is San Francisco that has the largest Chinese community in the United States, and their New Year celebration has noticeably filled up the streets of San Francisco. So it is no coincidence that we see signs in the photographs warning us to be watchful, because here the conditions for coronavirus are not only great to emerge, but also – to thrive. Some of the photos in the exhibition, just as the Bible, tell us: ‘Watch, be prepared …’ The signs of San Francisco captured in J. Liaudanskaitė’s photographs are closely related to her scientific work and previous exhibitions. One of them, ‘The Glance’ (lith. „Žvilgsnis“), was presented to the members of the conference ‘SPIE Photonics WEST 2020’ at the San Francisco Moscone Exhibition Center this year.

Photographic artist Judita Liaudanskaitė graduated from Kaunas Maironis Gymnasium in 2004. After improving her photography skills in her professional activities, she later studied Heritage Protection at Kaunas University of Technology, where she became acquainted with the sacral value of historical relics and their protection and improved her skills in the fields of drawing, composition and computer art design. Currently, she is a final-year student in Engineering Sciences at Kaunas University of Applied Engineering Sciences.

The exhibition will be open until the 14th of June, 2020.

Working hours of KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens str. 2, Klaipėda): Wednesday – Sunday from 1 pm to 7 pm. (Closed during public holidays).