Elena Balsiukaitė-Brazdžiūnienė
was born in 1958 03 04 Kaunas
In 1965-74 studied at 24 th in high school
In 1974-78 studied at Kaunas S Zukas of fine arts, artistic weaving has acquired the specialty
In 1981-89 studied at the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Painting
Takes part in exhibitions since 1989
In 1990-2001 was the group "Four" member
Since 1992 - Lithuanian Artists' Union
Since 1989 A teacher Martinaitis Art School, Deputy Director
Solo Exhibitions
1990 - Paintings, Kaunas Artists' House
1992 - "monotype 13", Kaunas Artists' House
1994 - Painting and Graphics Exhibition, gallery "AL", Kaunas, Lithuania
1997 - "Dedications", "Egle" gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
1997 - Drawings, Kaunas Picture Gallery
2001 - "Autorekonstrukcijos", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2002 - "Šančiai beauties, art gallery O11, Vilnius
2002 - "Šančiai beauties and others" Gallery "Baroti, Klaipeda, Lithuania
2003 - "DS", gallery "Left - Right, Vilnius
2003 - Sand paintings, weathervanes, art gallery, Juodkrante
2005 - "Minus 14", gallery art niche, Vilnius
2005 - "The", gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2006 - "XXL", Žemaitkiemis Manor, Babtai
2006 - XXL Gallery, XX, Panevezys
2006 - Painting, Tartu, Estonia
2006 - "Summer workbook," Gallery "Sofa", Druskininkai, Lithuania
2006 - Meeting No 2, Gallery Baroti, Klaipeda, Lithuania
2007 - "about them," an interactive project, gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2007 - Personal exhibition for the gallery "Art Park" 10th anniversary, gallery Arka, Vilnius, Lithuania
2008 - "About" as an interactive project, Exhibition Hall, Klaipeda, Lithuania
2008 - "Exhibition Number 20 "gallery" White ", Kaunas, Lithuania
2010 – ABOUT THEM, Galleri NB, Viborg, Denmark
Major group exhibitions
1991 - "The Art of jail", gallery "Art", Hamburg, Germany
1992 - 9 from Lithuania ", gallery 2112, Copenhagen, Denmark
1993 - Group "Four" exhibition, Kaunas Picture Gallery
1993 - "Context", St George Church, Kaunas, Lithuania
1993 - Republican Exhibition of Fine Arts, Contemporary Art Center (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania
1994 - 9 from Lithuania ", gallery 2112, Copenhagen, Denmark
1995 - Lithuanian Art 95, CAC, Vilnius
1995 - "Figure", Group Four "exhibition, Kaunas Picture Gallery
1995 - "Figure", Group Four "exhibition, Artists' House, Vilnius, Lithuania
1996 - 25 liters of air, "groups" Four "exhibition, Kaunas Picture Gallery
1996 - 9 from Lithuania ", gallery 2112, Copenhagen, Denmark
1996 - III to this international plein air painters for the AA SAMUOLIS note Kaunas Artists' Union Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
1997 - "European Bridges", gallery Zameček "Pšibramas, Czech Republic
1997 - "Blue", "Egle" gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
1998 - "The idea of information civilization", Kaunas Picture Gallery
1998 - "It's the same", Kaunas Picture Gallery
1998 - "Contemporary Art from Kaunas: Refractive generation, Gallery Fjosangersamlingene, Bergen, Norway
1998 - "picture perfect", Lithuanian Artists' House, Vilnius, Lithuania
1999 - Kaunas Artists' Exhibition, Gallery AESNAES Huset, Denmark
1999 - "The best years of work", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2000 - International Biennale artist book, "Apocalypse", gallery "Arka", Vilnius
2000 - "End the twentieth century Haiku, the Artists' Union Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
2001 - "Tradition and Future", CAC, Vilnius
2001 - "Self-portrait I am an artist, the Artists' Union Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
2001 - "Tradition Today" Vasby Kunsthal, Väsby, Finland
2001 - Ars Baltica, Kapovogur Museum Kapovogors, Iceland
2001 - 4 x 10 ", the group" Four "exhibition, Kaunas Picture Gallery
2001 - Fluxus-mail Art, Kaunas Picture Gallery
2001 - Project "Kaunas-Krakow", the Rostworowskio Gallery, Krakow, Poland
2002 - "Ars longa, vita brevis", gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2002 - "Between Two Worlds", Chapelle des Penitentes, Aniane, France
2002 - Takako Saito and Lithuanian artists ", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2002 - Pro smiles, Gallery Arka, Vilnius, Lithuania
2002 - Personal Plein Air Painting "Spring Benedictine street" Kaunas, Lithuania
2003 - "The best years of work", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2003 - "Art + Art of communication Painting ", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2003 - "The object painting", X International Plein Air Painting for A SAMUOLIS note, gallery "Meno parkas", Kaunas, Lithuania
2003 - Kaunas, Vilnius, Krakow, Gallery Arka, Vilnius, Lithuania
2003 - "Dipolis", plein air painting Bikuškis Manor, the Town Hall
2003 - "Painting Today", gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2003 - "colouristic Lithuanian painting" ( "Inspired Explosions), Ditrichseno Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2003 - "Kolorizmas Lithuanian painting, art gallery Maldis, Vilnius
2004 - "The best years of work", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2004 - "The Unbearable Reality", gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2004 - Great Gallery in the new municipality of Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania
2004 - "Be calm," Group Four "exhibition, Kaunas Picture Gallery
2004 - "Private View", International Symposium of Artists Hidden Dimensions, Westbury Farm Studios, Mylton Kane, England
2004 - "Figures and portraits of the eleventh century," project "Kaunas, Vilnius, Krakow, Rostworowskio Gallery, Krakow, Poland
2004 - XII th Baltic Triennial of Painting "7 paintings truth", CAC, Vilnius
2005 - "postcards", gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2005 - Šiauliai and Kaunas artists' exhibition, Siauliai art gallery
2005 - "Portrait Format", XII, plein air painting for the AA SAMUOLIS note, gallery "Meno parkas", Kaunas, Lithuania
2005 - "Living Graphics", the international campaign "Museum Night", MŽilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
2005 - "Textile 05", MŽilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
2005 - "Lohn der Arbeit, West Rhine Westphalia, the Union of Artists Exhibition, Hernan, Germany
2006 - "Palace of space", plein air painting Bikuškis estate, Bikuškio
2006 - "Raigardas", plein air painting exhibition, KA Jonynas houses, Druskininkai, Lithuania
2006 - Neo popmenas Lithuanian, club Intro, Vilnius
2006 - "Ultima ratio", gallery Meno Parkas, Kaunas
2006 - 15 x 15 ", Nimes, France
2006 - "Space metaphysics", Tbilisi, Georgia
2007 - "The best years of work", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2007 - "Raigardas", plein air painting exhibition, gallery "Arka", Vilnius
2007 - "Contemporary art from Lithuania", Thyssen steel factory Krupa exhibiton space, Duisburg, Germany
2007 - "Palace of space", plein air painting Bikuškis estate exhibition Bikuškio
2007 - Painting Biennial "Nostalgia", "Good recovery", Exhibition Hall, Klaipeda, Lithuania
2007 - "Art + Art of communication Fotointencijos ", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2008 - "Palace of space", plein air painting Bikuškis estate exhibition Bikuškio
2008 - Red Line 08 "international" Idias émergentes "project, Porto, Portugal
2008 - Kaunas: on this side of painting, Gallery "Meno parkas", Kaunas, Lithuania
2008 - "Kaunas Art: Contexts," Communication History Museum, Kaunas, Lithuania
Awards and scholarships
2000 - Diploma for the best painting work "Shepherds" in the exhibition "The best years of work", Kaunas Picture Gallery
2001 - High degree of public scholarship
2007 - Individual Member Scholarship
Elena Balsiukaite
About the exhibition 2010
In 2007 I created "About Them" with a group of adolescents It was an interactive audio-visual project made up of videos, audio recordings and paintings
My role was to act as a portrait painter and it was a challenge as I hadn't painted portraits since my student days Up until this project, my work could be best described as being neo-expressionist, from colouristic abstraction painting to surrealism, symbolism and synthesis of art objects I have always taken photographs and used them in my work
This new role of portrait painter was particularly troubling mainly because the people working on this project were not total strangers to me and I wanted to find a way of representing them in a suitable contemporary manner I have always been interested in graffity; I admire the spontaneity of expression it represents and how, with a minimum of material, an idea can be gotten across so well In this frame of mind, I set aside a colouristic approach an opted for a monochromatic one I chose large formats to get away from life-size and to aim for more emotional impact
The adolescents took photographs of one another - this was the only way they could be at ease and natural The portraits I painted were based on these photographs
Faces of adolescents are very interesting Their rebellious spirit and criticism of the world are akin to the artist's position They are in a formative stage: out of childhood, not yet in adulthood I see a vast range of psychological contradictions in them and hundreds of hidden possibilities Each one has his/her own drama and emotional load Being an adolescent is an extreme time of life As I painted their portraits I searched for my own link with them and tried to express that as honestly as possible Since I had involved them in this project, it was important that my approach be honest
The final two portraits were painted later - this past summer My son and a friend decided to hitch-hike across Europe to Spain and I had promised to have their portraits finished by the time they came home I worried about them and painted They travelled
It was very interesting to see how my characters changed over those two years The way they were in the autumn of 2007 is already the past - the paintings fix them in time
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