JANINA MONKUT\u0116 \u2013 MARKS
\n(1923 \u2013 2010)
\nA Gift for the Homeland<\/p>\n
The Rapla County Centre for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of renowned Lithuanian-American artist Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks on our premises on April\u2026 2020. The exhibition became a reality thanks to the Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks Museum in K\u0117dainiai, Lithuania.<\/p>\n
Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks was born in Radvili\u0161kis, Lithuania, Sept. 21, 1923; her father worked as a railwayman. Escaping Lithuania in 1944, she studiet at the Innsbruck University, Austria, and at \u00c9cole des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, Freiburg, Germany, with a number of Lithuanian emigrants as professors – Antanas & Anastazija Tamo\u0161aitis, Vytautas Kasiulis, Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas, Viktoras Petravi\u010dius. <\/p>\n
In 1950 Janina resettled in the USA. Since 1956, she actively participated in the Chicago art scene, and was connected to the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago) and the B.I.G. Arts Center (Sanibel, Florida). Her works have been exhibited by the Chicago Art Institute, The North Shore Art League (Winnetka, Illinois), Dunes Art Foundation (Michigan City, Indiana), Sun Times Gallery (Chicago, Illinois), Old Water Tower Place (Chicago, Illinois) et al; she had more than 20 individual exhibitions. She also participated in the events of Lihuaninan culture & art organizations, e.g. the Balzekase Museum of Lithuanian Culture, the \u010ciurlionise Gallery and the Museum of Lithuanian Art in Lemont. <\/p>\n
Her early paintings and prints were influenced by the so-called Chicago Imagists (Leon Golub, Seymour Rossofsky et al), who stood in opposition to the 1950s mainstream of Abstract Expressionism, but also later opposed Pop Art, considering the primary task of art to be the expression of the artist\u2019s personal experiences and emotions.<\/p>\n
Between 1962-1966, Monkut\u0117-Marks created a series of works utilizing the imagery of Pop Art; she later returned to her Lithuanian roots, finding inspiration in folk art motifs. The artist had a sizable collection of folk art from across the globe. <\/p>\n
Since the 1970s, textile was Monkut\u0117-Marks\u2019s preferred medium of expression. <\/p>\n
In 2000, the artist donated a major part of her creations to her native Lithuania, founding her museum in K\u0117dainiai, which opened its doors in 2001.
\nJanina Monkut\u0117-Marks died in Chicago, Nov 13, 2010.<\/p>\n
At the current exhibition in Rapla, we bring you a selection of Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks\u2019i linoleum block prints and tapestries.<\/p>\n
The motif of road and journey is one of the most significant in the art of Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks. Journey is interpreted as a quest for the meaning of life and soul-searching in the tapestries \u201cMan and His World,\u201d \u201cLonging for Freedom,\u201d \u201cGoing Home,\u201d and \u201cMy Road.\u201d Existential meaning is imposed even on the tapestries based upon \u201creal\u201d travel, such as \u201cGoing to the Wedding\u201d and \u201cLeft Behind.\u201d Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks often portrays the feeling of \u201cbeing on the road\u201d as a labyrinth; one that has no beginning or end, no strictly positive or negative zones. It is as though the artist suggests that there is no chance to predict an upcoming turn of the road or escape the labyrinth. It is only possible to experience it fully.<\/p>\n
Some of the artist\u2019s linoleum block prints imitate the compositional scheme of traditional folk art (\u201cMy Road\u201d, \u201cAngel\u201d); elsewhere, she combines the rough shaping of individual forms with geometric ornaments \u2013 these are substantial and generalized, represented not only by a contour line but also by entire silhouette. The artist fully employs the deep contrast and intensity characteristic of linoleum block printing. Floral and anthropomorphic allusions, geometric abstractions, traditional ornaments and the artist\u2019s original motifs merge into a mysterious, magical world. <\/p>\n
Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks\u2019s works are characterized by clarity of shape and exceptional compositional stability, intensity of colour and variability of texture. The subjective point of view and the courage to open up her inner world are not only recurrent but also some of the most valuable features of Janina Marks\u2019s art, where the ironic and the tragic, the religious and the liberal, primitive and modern are elegantly combined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JANINA MONKUT\u0116 \u2013 MARKS (1923 \u2013 2010) A Gift for the Homeland The Rapla County Centre for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of renowned Lithuanian-American artist Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks on our premises on April\u2026 2020. The exhibition became a reality thanks to the Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks Museum in K\u0117dainiai, Lithuania. Janina Monkut\u0117-Marks was born … Continue reading A Gift for the Homeland<\/span>