The works by Gintautas Trimakas and ateate first met in “Tolstoyevsky”, the 10th issue of The Happy Hypocrite journal published by Book Works (UK) in 2017. Based on a fleeting and forking story picked up with one ear from under the vaults of Halės Market in Vilnius, the journal came to serve as a resonating chamber for this and other (future?) encounters.

Both Trimakas and ateate are based in Vilnius but neither of them fit comfortably in so-called contemporary art. They cross each other’s ways not at art openings or pages of cultural press but via digital scanners and photolabs, internet search memory and music from next door, casual acquaintances and public corridors and alleys. ateate is a collective whose loose identity appears to be confirmed each time anew though covert email addresses, aliases and heart-felt meetings. Trimakas, who presents himself as humble maker and support to his craft, has also long established himself as thinker through photography, writing long paragraphs in light, restriction and formulas. Presented in this exhibition are fragments of an over-arching project that traces histories of color and proportion, as means for establishing grounds for improvisation.

To grasp the nature of their conversation — and to us, in this show, their work IS a conversation — it can be interesting to consider the corners; not of the rectangles of their works (and yes, some of these are missing), but the corners they make through folding and collaging techniques. Consider the edges that they thus imagine, and the gestures, utterances, provocations, and withdrawals to silence of their choice.

Curator wishes to sincerely thank PM8 for this opportunity. Solely through friendship the Vigo gallery discovers that Vilnius is just around a corner.

Virginija Januškevičiūtė