From 5 April exhibition “To Live” by Aleksandras Macijauskas will be open at Kaunas Photography Gallery. A meeting with one of the most important representatives of the Lithuanian School of Photography is planned to take place soon.
The works on display are from the series Kaunas Veterinary Clinics (1977-1984). The exhibition will run until 5 May.
Macijauskas was born in 1938 in Kaunas and his work is deeply rooted in the city’s history and culture. His early experiences in both the conflicted urban and harsh rural environment of the city have had a profound influence on his diverse work. For many years (until 2009) Aleksandras Macijauskas was the head of the Kaunas department of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association and founded the Kaunas School of Photography, shaping future generations of photographers. He is valued for his enormous influence on the development of Lithuanian photography.
Macijauskas’ unique style, characterised by dynamic compositions and modern aesthetics, has earned him international recognition. His work has been exhibited alongside global photography legends in Brussels, Venice, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and other major museums and festivals around the world. In his acclaimed series “Lithuanian Rural Markets” and “Veterinary Clinics”, Macijauskas captures the essence of Lithuanian culture, combining modernity with tradition and giving his subjects a dramatic theatricality.
According to Tomas Pabedinskas, Macijauskas has given the Lithuanian humanist worldview a harshness, tension, conflict, open irony, and thoughtful meaning. The duality of Macijauskas’s photographs gives rise to drama. In the author’s best works, the peculiarities of the photographic form turn reality into an unusual spectacle, allowing the photographer to create an artistic image whose meaning is revealed beyond the visual document of reality and its obvious content. Macijauskas not only conveys the tension of the captured moment, but also shows our whole life as a grotesque drama that is constantly repeating as the wheel of life turns.
His contribution to photography underlines the power of art to transcend cultural and political boundaries, thus confirming the global significance of the Lithuanian photographic tradition. Macijauskas remains an important figure in the world of photography, renowned for his innovative approach and dedication to documenting the human condition and relationships.
Curator of the exhibition – Gintaras Česonis.
The exhibition is partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Kaunas City Municipality.