Oxymora

The artists represented in the exhibition Oxymora hail from different eras and interact with different cultural and political contexts. The artwork of contemporary Lithuanian female artists is exhibited together with a selection of pieces by the Berliner Malerpoeten (Berlin Painter-Poets), created mostly in the 1970s to the 1990s. The connecting link is Aldona Gustas, a German lyricist and visual artist of Lithuanian origin. In 1972, she assembled in Berlin (West) an informal group of fine artists who were also writers, and writers who also drew and painted - Berlin Painter-Poets. The artists of different countries are even more strongly interconnected in their attitude of questioningly poetic objection: Creed in doubt. Interest in boredom. Weariness of beauty. Passion for calm. Sarcastic sensitivity. Oxymora.

Oxymora have recently been conquering the public dialogue and political practice as conveyed by the media; absurd contradictions are becoming less and less noticeable, increasingly abundant in speech and ultimately socially acceptable. The intention behind these oxymora is neither poetry nor spirit of contradiction; their real purpose is to undermine democracy and diversity, and legitimize what is illegitimate: ALTERNATIVE FACTS.
In times of BLACK SNOWFLAKES (Aldona Gustas) and BOOMING SILENCE (Christoph Meckel), art and literature can enhance our sensual and verbal perception of truth and lie. They break ground by way of oxymora, displaying oxymoronic qualities — whether in isolation or through curated confrontation.

ARTISTS FROM LITHUANIA
Laima Oržekauskienė, Lina Jonikė, Inga Likšaitė, Monika Žaltauskaitė-Grašienė, Bronė Sofija Gideikaitė, Almyra Weigel

BERLINER MALERPOETEN (BERLIN PAINTER-POETS)
Günter Bruno Fuchs, Aldona Gustas, Günter Grass, Roger Loewig, Christoph Meckel, Artur Märchen
Kurt Mühlenhaupt, Karl Oppermann, Oskar Pastior, Robert Wolfgang Schnell,  Wolfdietrich Schnurre
Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern, Joachim Uhlmann, Hans-Joachim Zeidler

Vernissage: 25.2.2017, 3 pm, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig
Read the opening program