Kėdainiai

MUSEUM GOAL

Janina Monkute-Marks Museum and Gallery is committed to the cultural and educational advancement achieved through sharing art in its dynamic diversity with the city of Kedainiai and the larger cultural community of Lithuania. The Museum stimulates creative activity, community involvement and philanthropy by organizing exhibitions, symposia, lectures, literary evenings, concerts and educational outreach projects for the youth.

You can see tapestries, paintings, prints of Janina Monkute-Marks, exhibition of International and Lithuanian Artists, Outdoor Stone sculpture park.

Collection:

1. Janina's Monkute's-Marks early creations (1958-1962)

Though indirectly, her early paintings reflect the drama of World War II and emigration. Her paintings of 1958-1960 are dominated by dramatic tension and a sense of the unknown. The artist was encouraged to share her painful story by the popular Chicago group Art Brute.

In the early 1960’s, Janina Marks’ painting turns toward abstraction and decorativeness. The artist starts experimenting with collage and gesso priming. The view is intentionally flat – the artist is portraying emotion, not a three-dimensional imitation of reality. The glittering mosaic-like multicoloured squares convey constantly changing surroundings and frames of mind.

2. Janina Monkute-Marks pop Art collection(1962-1966)

Janina Marks continues to compare the banal and the essential in her Pop series of 1962-1966. At the time, Pop Art was a contemporary phenomenon still searching for a developmental path. The famous Pop artists Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauchenberg instituted the depiction and critique of consumer society as the main theme. Like the Pop Art masters, Janina Marks used large formats, intense and bright colors (often, commercial paint), text, and collage.

3. Janinos Monkutės-Marks paintings collection of ethnographic Art.

The artist’s interest in Lithuanian folklore and her collection of ethnographic art have naturally led her to folk art as a source of universal wisdom. Janina Monkutė-Marks: „I began to explore my roots, Lithuanian folklore, folk songs, and folk art. My oil paintings based upon mythology are especially colorful and poster-like. I enjoyed using rich colors and interpreting playful themes. So much wealth can be found in folk mythology!“.

4. Janina Marks' tapestries collection (1970-2003)

Numerous art critics have suggested that many of Janina Marks’ paintings and prints would make excellent designs for tapestries. The artist has also admitted an ever-present inclination to return to weaving, her favorite subject in Freiburg. Janina Monkutė-Marks: „I wanted to touch the textures of thread; ornament and color no longer satisfied me. The very process of weaving enchanted me. It is a very exacting and time-consuming task, but I felt it suited me well. I am happy to be able to express joy and pain and a part of myself in weaving. To me, weaving has become a language that I use to tell stories of the sea, land, sunrise, everyday life, and dreams“.

5. Janina Marks' prints collection

Some of Janina Marks’ most beautiful prints include symbols, which laconically suggest pre-Christian wisdom. These symbols unite floral anthropomorphic allusions, geometric abstractions, traditional ornaments and the artist’s original motifs into a mysterious magical world.

Visitor information:

Address
Basanavičiaus 45, LT - 57182, Kėdainiai.
Tel. (370 347) 57398 , (370) 686 32992 .
Fax. (370 347 60270).
E-mail: galerija@jmm-muziejus.lt
Website: www.jmm-muziejus.com

Museum hours:
Tuesday thru Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
During Summer time (June, July, August) Museum is open on Sundays: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Admissions
Adults – 4 Litas
Children & students – 2 Litas
Museum members - free
Excursions are booked by the telephone (370 347) 57398 .