Lithuanian Pavilion

Žilvinas Kempinas

TUBE

Scuola Grande della Misericordia, Cannaregio, 2599/A
June 7 - November 22, 2009

Commissioner Laura Rutkute,
Curator Laima Kreivyte
Galerija Vartai, Vilnius

http://www.tubeinvenice.com

This year for the first time, visitors to the International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia - will be able to enter the majestic building of Scuola Grande della Misericordia and experience the installation TUBE by Žilvinas Kempinas. This Renaissance building dating back to the 16th century and designed by the famous Venetian architect Jacopo Sansovino is located in Cannaregio, northwest of Venice, and will house the Lithuanian pavilion.

Žilvinas Kempinas is widely recognized for his bold use of videotape as a sculptural medium. This large-scale installation, TUBE (created at the Atelier Calder, Saché, France), resonates with the environment of the floating city and creates a space where vision and movement are linked by means of the body. TUBE addresses the physical and optical experiences of the viewer, and the passage of time, while creating the feeling of being inside and outside simultaneously.

One can describe TUBE metaphorically or geometrically but to be appreciated it must be experienced directly. No image can convey the gradual accumulation of sensory experiences awaiting visitors who pass through the translucent tunnel of parallel lines. Kempinas changes the function of magnetic tape from an information carrier to a linear map of time and space.

Žilvinas Kempinas was born in 1969 in Plunge, Lithuania. He lives and works in New York. Solo exhibitions: Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2008); Le Grand Café, Saint-Nazaire, France (2008); Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (2007); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2006); P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2003); Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York (2004, 2006, 2007).

Selected group shows: Espéces d'espaces, Yvon Lambert Gallery, New York, The Immediate Future, Lunds Konsthall, Lund, Sweden (2009), Now Jump, Nam June Paik Art Center, Yongin/Seoul, (2008), Manifesta 7, Bolzano, Italy (2008); New Work: Zilvinas Kempinas, Alyson Shotz, Mary Temple, SFMOMA, San Francisco (2008); Go East, Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg (2008).

In 2007 Žilvinas Kempinas was awarded the Calder Prize and was the resident artist at the Atelier Calder in Saché, France, from January to June of 2008.

The Lithuanian Pavilion is accompanied by a catalogue published by DuMont Buchverlag. Contributing authors: Professor at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Alfonsas Andriuškevicius, Curator of the Lithuanian Pavilion, Laima Kreivyte, Curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Veronica Roberts, and Professor at the University of Plymouth (UK), Malcolm Miles.

Professional preview: 4 - 6 June, 2009 10 am - 8 pm
Pavilion opening reception: 5 June, 2009 5 pm

Opening hours: 10 am - 6 pm, closed on Mondays except 8 June
Boat stop: Ca' d'Oro

The Lithuanian Pavilion is principally funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
Patron of the Pavilion is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius.
Supported by Danute and Alain Mallart, Sutkiene ir partneriai, TEO LT, Logotipas, Libra Vitalis and Lietuvos Rytas.
For further information please contact Laura Rutkute +49 15156905300
biennale@galerijavartai.lt
http://www.galerijavartai.lt
http://www.tubeinvenice.com