View of ‘Barbara Kasten: Post-abstraction,’ M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2026. Courtesy of M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART. Photography by GUSTINA KETURAKYTÉ
Barbara Kasten’s first major retrospective in Lithuania is now on view at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas. Post-Abstraction, running from July 16th to October 25th, 2026, spans nearly six decades of the artist’s practice, exploring light, colour, geometry, space and perception through photography, sculpture and installation.
Barbara Kasten photography
Curated by Agnieszka Pindera, the exhibition features around 80 works shaped by Kasten’s dialogue with Bauhaus, Constructivism and modernist architecture. She uses photography to construct shifting spaces from mirrors, geometric forms, coloured filters, fabric and precisely controlled light.
Her practice grew from studies in painting, sculpture and textile design, alongside a formative encounter with Magdalena Abakanowicz during a 1971 Fulbright-Hays scholarship in Poznań. Later, the theories of László Moholy-Nagy and the Bauhaus deepened her exploration of light, material and perception.
In Kasten’s abstract photography, the camera becomes part of the construction. Reflections, shadows and geometric forms can make solid objects appear weightless, while flat images suggest spaces extending beyond the frame.
From Constructivist forms to architectures of perception
The exhibition brings together photographs and sculptures in which simple materials become intricate visual environments. Planes, mirrors and architectural fragments are transformed through dramatic shifts of light and colour.
Another group of works explores Kasten’s fascination with architecture. Geometric structures become temporary stages for light, blurring the boundary between physical space and its photographic image. Her works occupy a fertile territory between photography, sculpture and installation.
Kasten treats light as a material in its own right, capable of shaping form and space. Her images challenge the eye to distinguish between the solid and the reflected, the physical and the photographic.
Barbara Kasten’s Lithuanian Roots
The exhibition also has a personal resonance. Born in Chicago in 1936 to Lithuanian émigré parents, Kasten became increasingly drawn to her heritage later in life. After her father’s death, she travelled to Lithuania with her mother, meeting relatives near Panevėžys and encountering a landscape and family history long held at a distance.
The Kaunas exhibition follows Kasten’s first Lithuanian presentation in 1995 at the Centre of Contemporary Art in Vilnius. Post-Abstraction marks her first major retrospective in the country, bringing her American, European and Lithuanian connections into view.
View of Barbara Kasten: Post-abstraction, M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2026. Courtesy of M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARTPhotography by GUSTINA KETURAKYTÉ
View of Barbara Kasten: Post-abstraction, M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2026. Courtesy of M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARTPhotography by GUSTINA KETURAKYTÉ
View of Barbara Kasten: Post-abstraction, M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2026. Courtesy of M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARTPhotography by GABRIELIUS LAURINAITIS
View of Barbara Kasten: Post-abstraction, M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2026. Courtesy of M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARTPhotography by GUSTINA KETURAKYTÉ
View of Barbara Kasten: Post-abstraction, M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2026. Courtesy of M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARTPhotography by GUSTINA KETURAKYTÉ
BARBARA KASTENPhotography by BARTOSZ GÓRKA, courtesy of ZACHĘTA – NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART