Exhibition of Rimaldas Viksraitis (Lithuanian photographer)

Anya Stonelake/White Space Gallery

Rimaldas Viksraitis
Grimaces of the Weary Village

3 December 2009 – 15 January 2010

Private view: Wednesday 2 December 2009
6.30 – 8.30 pm
with introduction by Martin Parr
RSVP Simon Goode on 020 7313 6000

John McAslan Architects + Partners, 7-9 William Road, Euston, London NW1 3ER

Anya Stonelake/White Space Gallery is pleased to present the first solo UK exhibition of Lithuania’s most outstanding photographer, Rimaldas Viksraitis at John McAslan + Partners Architects Gallery. Championed by Martin Parr; Viksraitis won the Arles Discovery Award for New Photography in 2009.

Viksraitis has been quietly pursuing his photography for years, cycling
around the desolate farms in the Lithuanian countryside with his camera tied to his bike. Being compared with the British photographer Richard
Billingham, he grew up “between marshes and clay” in one of the most
secluded corners of the Lithuanian Sakiai district. “You couldn’t get out to the world without a large pair of wellingtons.”

In this way of life that is fast disappearing, any apparent
dysfunctionality, propelled by liberal drinking of home brew appears to be an asset. Viksraitis describes his subjects as “ Bearing their cross and yet not grumbling over their lot.” Behind the backdrop of hilarity is the disintegration of a way of living, and persistence for survival. The resulting images are slightly insane and wonderfully surreal.

Rimaldas Viksraitis graduated in Photography from the Vilnius Technical
School. He worked for ten years as a photographer in Sakiai. He has been a member of the Union of the Lithuanian Art Photographers since 1985.
Nominations: 2000/2002 and 2003/2004 a State Stipend from the Lithuanian
Ministry of Culture. 2009 Arles Discovery Award, Arles Photofestival,
France. Major photographic series include Slaughter (1982-86), Nude in a
Desolate Farm (1991), A Meadow at 11.00 (1995), This Crazy World (1995-),
Grimaces of the Weary Village (1998-), Farmstead Children (2000-), Farmstead Dreams (2000-). He is represented by Anya Stonelake/White Space Gallery in London

Photographs selected by Martin Parr
Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania

World Architect of the Year, John McAslan + Partners, has opened a new gallery space in north London, promoting the work of international artists. For further details, contact Simon Goode on 020 7313 6000.
Opening times: Monday–Friday 10am–4pm. All other times by appointment.
For more information: 0207 3999 571, www.whitespacegallery.co.uk
John McAslan + Partners, 7-9 William Road, Euston, London, NW1 3ER
Images © Rimaldas Viksratis

Nearest Tube: Warren Street/Euston
All other times by appointment
www.whitespacegallery.co.uk www.mcaslan.co.uk

Posted by Maria Kapajeva on November 30^th 2009