BIO
Born in Vilnius, Lithuania (1983), Alina Melnikova lives and works in Vilnius and Barcelona. She has exhibited her works widely in Europe -Austria, Spain, Germany, Poland and Finland- since graduating from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2008.
Through different mediums such as drawing, installation, ceramics, performance and -especially- oil painting, Alina explores visual aspects of seduction through notions of sensuality, sexuality and erotism. In her newest works, A. Melnikova researches the relation between nature/naturality and artificiality and its sociocultural reflections. Artist’s focus opens up from gender identity to the categories of post-humanism and post-identity, transcending the limits of the anthropocentric perspective and testifying to a change in the taxonomic approach and the deconstruction of the hierarchic classification of life forms.
Though the artist refers to the insights of scientific research (Donna Haraway, Lynn Margulis), her creative approach is intuitive and leaves some space for indeterminacy, doubts, confusion, and paradoxes. Using different media and adding ecological and cultural dimensions to a culturally engaged look, the artist creates visually and semantically multi-layered artifacts.
In 2009, she won the Award for Young Painters in Lithuania; in 2013, she was invited to the international artist residency “La Cité Internationale des Arts” in Paris. In the same year, she was granted Artistic status by the Lithuanian Cultural Ministry.
Her work has been exhibited in art institutions of international importance like the KUMU Contemporary Art Center in Tallinn (Estonia) and the CAC of Vilnius (Lithuania). Alina’s work resides in contemporary art collections such as Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull Collection), Lewben Art Foundation and Modern Art Center in Vilnius. In 2022 her work was included into the book “Lithuanian women artists. Women Artists in the Visual Arts from the Beginning of the 20th Century to the Present Day’’ by A.Narušytė. She has an upcoming group showing MOCAK Contemporary art center of Krakow (Poland) in 2023.
Parallely, she is an associate member of La Escocesa – analogical art creation center in Barcelona, Spain and forms a part of the Artistic duo together with Italian artist Fabrizio Contarino where she explores collectively engaging creative processes which deal with visual memory related to pop culture.
CV
Education:
2014 Node Center of Curatorial Studies, Curatorial course for artists “Expanding Exhibitions: Innovative Approches to Curating”, Berlin (Germany)
2008 Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts, M. A. in Easel Painting, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2005 Universidad de Miguel Hernández de Elche, Erasmus semester: Painting, installation and video, Altea (Spain)
Awards and Scholarships:
2021 Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artist Association (LIAA) Prize for production of an installation Cosmic Cave
2021 Solo show prize, Lithuanian Authors´ Right Association (LATGA)
2016 Lithuanian Culture Council Scholarship to produce new painting series “Obsession: Re(Virgin)”
2009 Young Painter’s Award in Lithuania, Third Prize: ¨I shall Get You Anyway¨ (Aš vis tiek tave pasieksiu)
2007 – 2008 – SLEIPNIR – Nordic Council of Ministers scholarship: granted to investigate performance art in Finland.
Residencies:
Since 2019 La Escocesa, associate resident, Barcelona (Spain)
2022 Belgrade AIR, Belgrade (Serbia)
2013 La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (France)
2010 Free Art Celebration Residency, Potsdam (Germany)
2007 Hyyrivitalu Artist Residency, Tampere (Finland)
Art Fairs:
2018 Group show at Fresh Paint Art Fair – Tel-Aviv (Israel), ‘’The Big Picture’’, The Rooster gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania), Art Vienna (Austria)
2017 Group show at YIA – Young International Artists, Paris (France)
2016 Solo show, Berliner Liste Contemporary Art Fair, Berlin (Germany)
Selected Exhibitions:
2022 Sixty Seconds Party, 424 Art Center, Belgrade (Serbia)
2021 Green Night, Sleep Tight, The Rooster Gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2021 Cosmic Coral, Voguing Valleys, Boushy Bouquets, Furry Forests, Espai Souvenir, Barcelona (Spain)
2018 Tropical: Drawing Party, Barrak Art Center, Naha (Japan)
2018 Flash in the Daylight, Vilnius graphic center, (Lithuania)
2016 Dare or Dear, Trivium gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2012 Location Condition: Beauty and The Beast, Šv. Jonas str Gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2008 Carmine, Tulips & Roses Gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2005 Stories in Raum 35, Gallery Raum 35, Vienna (Austria)
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2021 Kronos Festival, Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona (Spain)
2021 Exhibition at Locarno Film Festival, Locarno (Switzerland)
2018 The Big Picture, The Rooster gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2012 From Dusk to Dawn, 20 years of LGBT in Lithuania, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (Lithuania)
Lithuanian Art: 18 exhibitions, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2011 Baltikum: Tides of Change, HangArt7, Salzburg (Austria)
2010 Inside of You/ Outside of Me/Inside of You, Gallery 11 Line, Potsdam (Germany)
2009 Turbulence, Vilnius City Hall, Vilnius (Lithaunia)
New Prospect, Vartai Gallery, Vilnius (Lithuania)
2008 PasiJos – Kaunas In Art: Contexts – Contemporary Art Festival, Architect´s House Gallery,
Kaunas (Lithuania)
Elephant Bullet, KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn (Estonia)
Contemporary Lithuanian Art Exhibition “ANEW”, Municipal Gallery bwa, Bydgoszcz (Poland)