Exhibition "Grey" by Milda Gailiūtė

The creative narrative pattern of the exhibition "Grey" of painter Milda Gailiūtė has been construed from the experiences of the most recent years. This time, the painter is making deliberate attempts of identification with a specific locality. The creative works presented at this exhibition prompt the idea of discussing views which reveal emotions and the experiences of personal stories. Taking into consideration the personal positivity of the painter, it is likely that the exhibition could be given a different title; yet, this specific name most closely defines the relationship of the artist with the color. In many cases, painter Milda Gailiūtė and monochrome (controlled single-coloredness) have been traveling together as the two sides of an equation.

The creative work of Milda Gailiūtė is usually treated as graphics and drawing rather than painting. In the recent years, the artist has undertaken a conceptual – yet rather peculiar – interpretation of the genre of landscape. The painter processes the material of visual reality and sometimes even pushes it to the frontiers of abstraction thereby leaving the white color to dominate in the canvas which grows into tranquil luminescence. The color shyness of her works is cozy, somewhat mysterious, vivid and trembling. The painter seeks the balance in between the values of classical painting along with its concepts and their transformation into the structure of contemporary artistic reasoning. Landscapes also get born as a reflection of inner experiences, or as observation of social events taking place in the surroundings which sometimes grows into curious forms of the documentation of the locality and its environment: Žagarė, Vienna, neighborhoods of Kaunas City (Šilainiai, Žaliakalnis, Šančiai)...

To put it in her own words: “Since 2008, I have been dedicating a color to each and every place where I have an opportunity to reside and create. In 2015, when I was taking part in Žaliakalnis plein air session, I decided upon the color in which I would like to see the city of Kaunas. It was cold grey oil paint which is associated with concrete, asphalt, daily scenery. In 2016, at Šilainiai Project residence, I had an opportunity to take a new look at this residential neighborhood from the roof of a multistory block of flats. I took to painting small-scale works named Residential Neighborhood. In the pictures of this series, there are no buildings. I leave the canvas blank as I wanted to experience the natural environment. Recently, I have been striving to take a new look at Kaunas City landscapes. I have been observing the mundane reality of the developing views of Kaunas City and its suburbs. This motif is the dominating element of this personal exhibition.”

Milda Gailiūtė (born 1984) residing and painting in Kaunas. As early as in 2007, while still studying at Vilnius Academy of Arts, she started taking part in exhibitions. She has held 12 personal exhibitions, and her works were shown at Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre (2012), art gallery Meno parkas (2014 and 2018), Vilnius Academy of Arts exhibition hall Titanikas (2016), M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Arts A. Žmuidzinavičius Creations and Collections Museum (2014 and 2017). Works of the artist have been acquired by non-affiliated art collectors from Germany, Austria and Lithuania. In 2020, the work of the artist Beautiful Landscape beside Steinhof Hospital No. 2 (created in 2014) was acquired by M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Arts. Milda Gailiūtė has been an active contributor to group and international exhibitions and has won numerous awards for her creative activity.