Rimaldas Vikšraitis’ “Grimaces of the Weary Village”
3 December 2009 – 16 January 2010. Anya Stonelake/White Space Gallery presents the first solo UK exhibition of Lithuania’s outstanding photographer, Rimaldas Vikšraitis at John McAslan + Partners Architects Gallery. Championed by Martin Parr; Vikšraitis won the Arles Discovery Award for New Photography in 2009.
Vikšraitis 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 Šakiai district. “You couldn’t get out to the world without a large pair of wellingtons.”
Vikšraitis 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 Vikšraitis graduated in Photography from the Vilnius Technical School. He worked for ten years as a photographer in Šakiai. 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.
Supported by the Lithuanian Photographers’ Union, Kaunas Department, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
Photographs selected by Martin Parr
Private view: Wednesday, 2nd December 2009, 6.30–8.30pm, with an introduction by Martin Parr.
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
