Indrė Šerpytytė Explained

Indrė Šerpytytė
Birth Place:	Palanga, Lithuania
Nationality:	Lithuanian, British
Field:	Contemporary Art, Fine Art Photography
Training:	Royal College of Art and University of Brighton
Works:	150 mph, 2 Seconds of Colour, (1944 – 1991), Drancy, A State of Silence
Awards:	The Arts Foundation, Rencontres d’Arles, Magenta Foundation Flash Forward, National Media Museum, Hoopers Gallery, Metro Imaging, Fujifilm Distinction Award, Terry O’Neill Award, Jerwood Foundation

Indrė Šerpytytė (in Lithuanian pronounced as /ˈɪn.dʲɾʲeː ˈɕɛɾʲ.pʲiː.tʲiː.tʲeː/' born 1983) is a Lithuanian artist living and working in London. Šerpytytė is concerned with the impact of war on history and perception,^[1] and works with photography, sculpture, installation and painting.

Her work is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Roberts Institute of Art and Derwent London and have been exhibited at Tate Modern, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Photographers' Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków and Museum Folkwang, among others.^[2]

Life and work

Šerpytytė was born in 1983 in Palanga, Lithuania and moved to London at the age of 14. She received her MA in photography from The Royal College of Art, London and her BA in editorial photography from the University of Brighton.

(1944 – 1991)

Former NKVD - MVD - MGB - KGB Buildings (2009 - 2015, ongoing) centres on the after-effects of World War II in Lithuania. These black and white images tell an almost forgotten story of the domestic conflicts of war, in which people were interrogated and tortured in what were once family homes. Rather than representing the buildings themselves, or showing the inhabitants or victims directly, Šerpytytė uses commissioned, hand-carved wooden models based on archival research and site visits to comment on both the physical and humanitarian scale of the conflict and to recall events that have faded over time.^{[3] [4] [5]} From the same series, Forest Brothers (2009) looks at the Lithuanian forest as a place both to hide and to disappear as it revisits the environments once home to the period's most active resistance force.^[6]

A State of Silence

A State of Silence (2006) pays tribute to the artist's father, Albinas Šerpytis, Lithuania's Head of Government Security, who died in suspicious circumstances in a car accident in the early hours of October 13, 2001.^{[7] [8]}

2 Seconds of Colour

The large scale photographic palettes of 2 Seconds of Colour arise from a Google Image search for the term ‘Isis beheadings’. The works present the patchwork of rectangular placeholders automatically generated while the page is loading, their colours extracted from the 'black of the executioner’s garments, the orange of the victim’s jumpsuit [or] the blue of the sky’. Responding to the oversaturated media landscape in which they find themselves, the images 'seeking to break the closed circuit between violence that is thoughtlessly executed and violence that is thoughtlessly consumed'.^[9]

150 mph

The 150 mph paintings depart from images of individuals jumping from New York's World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks. Each image’s human subject has been removed leaving the architecture itself as sole "witness and unintentional memorial."^[10]

Publications

Publications by Šerpytytė

• (1944 – 1991). London: self-published, 2010. . Includes an interview with Martin Barnes and a text by Nigel Rolfe.

Publications with others

• Pokario Istorijos / Post-war Stories. Kaunas, Lithuania: Lithuanian Photographers’ Association Kaunas Department, 2015. By Šerpytytė ("Forest Brothers: Former NKVD-MVD-MGB-KGB Buildings"), Claudia Heinermann ("Wolf Children") and Michal Iwanowski ("Clear of People"). . With a text by Sonya Winterberg ("Wolf Children"). Published to accompany an exhibition. English and Lithuanian language.

Awards

• Jerwood Photography Award, Jerwood Visual Arts, Jerwood Foundation, 2006^[11]
• The Terry O’Neill Award, 2007^[12]
• The Fujifilm Distinction Award, 2008^[13]
• National Media Museum Photography Bursary, 2009^[14]
• Hoopers Gallery Prize, 2009
• Metro Imaging Prize, 2009
• Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Prize, 2010^[15]
• Nominated for the Rencontres d’Arles Discovery Award by Simon Baker, Tate Senior Curator, International Art (Photography), 2011^[16]
• Shortlisted for The Arts Foundation’s Still Life Photography Award, 2013^[17]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• The Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, London, 2009.^[18]
• Camera 16, Milan, 2010^[19]
• Vilniaus Fotografijos Galerija, Vilnius, 2011^[20]
• The Photographers' Gallery, London, 2010^[21]
• Ffotogallery, Penarth, 2013;^{[22] [23]}
• Kraków Photomonth Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK), 2015^{[7] [24]}

Group exhibitions

• The Photographers' Gallery, London
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London^[25]
• Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France, 2011^[26]
• National Gallery of Art, Vilnius, 2013
• Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, UK
• Conflict, Time, Photography, Tate Modern, London, 2014–2015.^{[27] [28]}
• Museum Folkwang, Essen, 2015^[29]
• Tbilisi Photo Festival^[30]
• Ocean of Images, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, 2015–2016^{[31] [32]}

Collections

Šerpytytė 's work is held in the following public collections:

• Victoria and Albert Museum, London ^[25]
• Roberts Institute of Art, London^[33]
• The collection of Jay Jopling, London
• Derwent London, London^[34]

Notes and References

1. Goze, Evita. "Interview with Indre Šerpytytė." FK Magazine. August 24, 2015.
2. Meilutė, Ieva, ed. "Poetic Documents, Exhibition Catalogue." 2012.
3. https://vimeo.com/113939552 "TateShots: Indre Serpytye."
4. Singer, Jane. "People: Indre Serpytyte." Editorial. Fitzrovia Journal, October 2015. October 2015.
5. http://www.jameshymangallery.com/artists/15740/biography/indre-serpytyte "Indre Serpytyte Biography."
6. http://www.indre-serpytyte.com/1944-1991-text/ "(1944 – 1991)."
7. http://www.camera16.it/exhibitions.php "Exhibitions."
8. Colberg, Joerg. "A Conversation with Indre Serpytyte [sic]." Conscientious Extended. June 21, 2010.
9. http://www.indre-serpytyte.com/text-on-the-series2-seconds-of-colour/ "2 Seconds of Colour"
10. http://www.indre-serpytyte.com/150-mph/ "150 mph"
11. Web site: Jerwood Photography Awards. Jerwood Visual Arts. 2015-11-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208065859/http://jerwoodvisualarts.org/3209/Jerwood-Photography-Awards. 2015-12-08. dead.
12. Web site: The Terry O'Neill. Website Remote New Media.
13. Web site: Fujifilm Distinctions Awards. dPhotoexpert. Icon Publications. 1 December 2015. 20 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160220235506/http://www.dphotoexpert.com/2008/03/03/fujifilm-distinctions-awards/. dead.
14. Web site: Photography Award Winners.
15. Web site: Flash Forward 2016 – Call for Entries Oct 16 to Dec 29, 2015. The Magenta Foundation. The Magenta Foundation.
16. Web site: SERPYTYTE, Indre - Médiathèque des Rencontres d'Arles. Médiathèque des Rencontres de la photographie, Arles. 3 August 2011 .
17. http://www.artsfoundation.co.uk/winners-and-shortlist/2013 "Winners & Shortlisted Artists of the Fellowships."
18. http://www.urm.lt/uk/en/news/construction-of-memory-in-indre-serpytytes-photographic-work "Construction of Memory in Indrė Šerpytytė’s Photographic Work."
19. http://www.camera16.it/exhibitions.php "Indre Serpytyte Still Silence."
20. http://www.photography.lt/lt.php/Parodos?id=453 "Indrė Šerpytytė '1944 - 1991' at Vilnius Photography Gallery."
21. https://www.artrabbit.com/events/indre-serpytyte "Indre Serpytyte at The Photographers' Gallery."
22. http://www.ffotogallery.org/indre-serpytyte-solo-exhibition "Indre Serpytyte – Solo Exhibition."
23. Duckhouse, Rory. "Indre Serpytyte: Solo Exhibition Reviewed" Photomonitor
24. Web site: Miesiąc Fotografii.
25. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/name/serpytyte-indre/44831/ "Collection Search: Serpytyte, Indre."
26. http://www.rencontres-arles.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=ARL_3_VForm&FRM=Frame%3AARL_25&LANG=English "Exhibitions: Indre Serpytyte."
27. Web site: Conflict, Time, Photography. 25 November 2014 . 28 November 2015 . .
28. Web site: TateShots: Indre Serpytyte.
29. Web site: Homepage - Museum Folkwang. 4 December 2015. Museum Folkwang. 10 November 2015. 2 June 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080602015031/https://www.museum-folkwang.de/en.html. dead.
30. http://www.tbilisiphotofestival.com/en/programme/ "Festival Programme."
31. https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1539?locale=en "Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015."
32. http://wsimag.com/art/16982-ocean-of-images "Ocean of Images"
33. http://www.artlyst.com/articles/david-roberts-art-foundation-set-to-open-in-camden "David Roberts Art Foundation Set To Open In Camden."
34. http://www.derwentlondon.com/about/art/a-state-of-silence-telephone "Art: A State of Silence (Telephone) by Indre Serpytyte at Angel Building."