Artist: Urtė Janus
Organiser: (AV17) Gallery
Title: Flowing Bodies
Venue: Underground Water Reservoir of Aukštaitijos Vandenys in Panevėžys, Lithuania
Photos: Paulius Židonis
In Flowing Bodies, Janus examines the porosity and permeability of matter through a site-specific installation at the Panevėžys Underground Water Reservoir. The reservoir is imagined as a vast container, an underground belly where metabolic and chemical processes unfold. Ceramic vessels, created in collaboration with local craftsmen using ancient waterproofing techniques—such as dipping hot clay into sourdough starter or milk before firing—are filled with local wild and domesticated water and acidic liquids that undergo chemical and microbial fermentation, slowly transforming throughout the exhibition. Janus developed the liquid recipes in collaboration with wild local yeasts, bacteria, nearby plants, and reservoir water.
The variations in clay porosity cause the vessels to “sweat” and “cry,” reflecting Janus’s interest in systems that are never closed but open and permeable, through which water carries nutrients, minerals, metals, pollutants, and toxins. By working with traditional vessel shapes in repetitive arrangements, the installation evokes bellies or organ systems: both containers and bodies that hold, yet never fully contain, always seeping, sweating, and dripping.
The exhibition is part of (AV17) Gallery project which aims to present young Lithuanian interdisciplinary female artists and their works in non-traditional spaces. This August, the program also includes “Low Frequency Memory”, a duo show by Roma Salė (Mikalauskytė) and Elena Laurinavičiūtė at Liepkalnis Water Reservoir in Vilnius. In September, a solo exhibition by Roma Salė (Mikalauskytė), “Alternative Narratives”, will be on view at The Fourth Fort in Kaunas.
The (AV17) Gallery has been actively working in the field of contemporary art for fourteen years. It is one of the few galleries in Lithuania that focuses exclusively on sculpture and installation art. In addition to its regular exhibition program, the gallery initiates international and regional artistic and educational projects and runs exchange programs with both Lithuanian and foreign artists, thus promoting the dissemination of contemporary art in Lithuania and Europe.