OSTRALE Biennale 2O21 is the third largest exhibition of contemporary art in Germany, organized by the Center for Contemporary Art OSTRALE. The biennial raises social responsibility themes and develops creative freedom. This exhibition will traditionally be held in culturally and physically abandoned spaces for the thirteenth time - art lovers are invited to the already nonoperating slaughterhouses, stables, factories and even coal mines.
This year's biennial will feature works by more than 140 artists from 34 countries. Lithuania will be represented in Dresden by 11 artists - Aleksas Andriuškevičius, Aurelija Maknytė, Mindaugas Gapševičius, Gabrielė Gervickaitė, Bronė Sofija Gideikaitė, Lukas Eugenijus Kolmogorcevas, Irma Leščinskaitė, Julija Pociūtė, Remis Ščerbauskas, Arturas
The artist Aleksas Andriuškevičius will present his works: the installation "Possible Water Line" and the video works "Experiments with Poetry" / "Menasnemenas" in one of the important venues of the OSTRALE Biennale 021 the Stadtentwässerung Dresden (the city's waste water facility), right in the vicinity of the OSTRALE Center in Dresden-Übigau. The fascinating sites of the facility will serve as an exciting backdrop to the exhibited artworks, bringing science, industry and visual arts into an unusual dialogue. With its long-time engagement in environmental and climate issues and its programs to engage and educate young generations about the responsible handling of wastewater and natural resources, Stadtentwässerung Dresden comes as a natural partner for OSTRALE's current program, which also deals with the questions of our relationships to rivers, water, sustainability, and the broader connections between society, environment and the arts.
A. Andriuškevičius is one of the artists who have changed and challenged the Lithuanian landscape of art in the 80s. After starting his early career as a photorealist painter, he joined the Post Ars group, provoking society in an experimental, performative manner, questioning the relationship between civilisation and nature, rethinking cultural and national symbols through the disturbing, shocking arrangements. In his video actions characterised by the use of minimalistic bodily gestures and transformations between different media, such as poetry, painting and video, he creates absurd and laconic situations, capturing nonsense movements to provoke philosophical questions. “Strikethrough the Landscape”, a video performance from the 80s, interconnects with his recent project “Possible Waterline” and his early video performance “Experiments with Poetry”. A black tape passing through the landscape or a video tape can be read as a comment on time, change, and on art.
More information about the exhibition can be found here: https://www.ostrale.de/en/Archive/OSTRALE-O21.html
Aleksas Andriuškevičius participation at the OSTRALE Biennale 2O21 is supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.