Agnė Jokšė

Through a documentary approach, Unconditional Love (2021) revolves around the dichotomy between two sociologically distinct generations: the so-called "lost" generation, formed under the Soviet regime, and the "independence" generation, born after the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990. Through a series of filmed interviews and observations with her extended family in Lithuania and the Lithuanian diaspora in Europe, Jokšė paints a nuanced portrait of the relational dynamics emerging from this specific socio-historical context. Over a succession of interconnected chapters, they question how these two groups negotiate their ideological and political differences, observing through the prism of "relationship to the other" the notions of care, compassion, and love.

More intimate, Unconditional Love Extended (2023) captures moments of the artist's daily life with her grandparents and uncle in London. A revealing moment occurs when the family watches a drag queen show on Lithuanian television together. The grandparents' open reaction provides an unexpected counterpoint to the viewer's potential expectations, highlighting the complexity of intergenerational interactions and the ability of family love to create spaces of mutual understanding. These two major films are part of a broader questioning of the notion of generational fracture and cultural trauma and the capacity of unconditional love to transcend these divides.

A graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Agnė Jokšė, born in 1993 in Vilnius, develops work at the intersection of autoethnography, video, and performative writing, thus probing the intergenerational dynamics that emerged following Lithuania's transition from the Soviet era to its status as an independent state. In the context of Eastern European contemporary art, Jokšė      participates in the emergence of a "queer futurism," reimagining social and family relationships beyond the structures inherited from the Soviet past and current neoliberal norms.

Agnė Jokšė has gained international recognition, with exhibitions and screenings at the Whitechapel Gallery in London (2021), the Baltic Triennial 14 in Vilnius (2021), Cell Project Space, London, UK e-flux Screening Room, New York, USA (2023) and Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art in Sweden (2023). Their work Dear Friend was awarded the main JCDecaux prize in 2019. As part of the Lithuanian Season in France, Agnė Jokšė completed a residency at the Friche du Palais de Tokyo and at KADIST in together with artist Anastasia Sosunova in preparation for the exhibition Borders are Nocturnal Animals (Sienos yra naktiniai gyvūnai), at the Palais de Tokyo from October 12, 2024, to January 5, 2025.