Vilnius city gallery Meno Niša invites everyone to the opening of the painting exhibition Poetic Testing Station 1 by artist Gustas Jagminas on February 9 at 6 pm.
Photos – courtesy of gallery Meno Niša ©
As G. Jagminas told us, for the last two years, his small workshop in Vilnius, on Raugyklos Street, has been the venue for some painting experiments in the evenings.
“There were experiments with paint (acrylic or oil), with plasticity (minimal or expressive), with plots (what is experienced and what is found on the tip of the brush), with syntax (I often combined the uncombinable). The world was in the throes of plague and war. When it started to rumble unbearably, I stopped. I did not paint. What was the point? But soon I was back again, but with even more colour,” Jagminas said about his exhibition Poetic Testing Station 1.
Photo – courtesy of Marius Žičius ©
One day, while joking with a friend who came by, he called his workshop Poetic Test Station 1. A series of new paintings under the same name was born. When asked about the changes he has seen in his work in recent years, when more figurative elements have started to dominate in painterly abstraction, the artist said that the change is perhaps less obvious to him, because it has been happening very gradually.
Photo – courtesy of Marius Žičius ©
“I have never painted abstraction for the sake of abstraction. It’s just that when I paint a landscape, I used to, and still do, generalize it so much that it borders on abstraction. It seems to me that I paint habitats that one can be in, and as I work, I seem to be standing or swinging in these painted habitats. And it can be a landscape, but sometimes it can also be interior. When I paint, I always feel the gravity of the earth and that the sky is over my head. The sky and the earth and their relationship – the horizon. Very rarely do I give up these elements in a painting,” the artist said about his work.
The artist added that during the summer he did a lot of painting from life while physically being on the grounds. Now, in winter, he plays more with plasticity, moods, states, and thoughts, so there is a less physical experience.
Poetic Testing Station 1 is Jagminas’ sixth solo exhibition. The artist graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts with a master’s degree in Painting and is a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association. Jagminas’ paintings have already been successfully presented at international art fairs, and the artist has participated in over 30 group exhibitions.
Jagminas studied painting with A. Šaltenis, H. Čerapas, and R. Nemeikšis. His emotional and sincere painting evokes associations with the landscapes of R. P. Vaitiekūnas, and the formats and colours are similar to the works of Ina Budrytė. Gustas does not hide his admiration for Lithuanian painters, he actively participates in contemporary art processes and exhibitions and writes. Art critic Viktoras Liutkus describes this as the artist’s dialogue with the viewer, art criticism, and colleagues.
According to Diana Stomienė, head of the Vilnius city gallery Meno Niša, Jagmias’ work represents the classical side of the gallery’s painters. “Gustas is a very productive artist who tirelessly observes both nature and his surroundings; we are glad that the gallery represents such skilful and different artists who never cease to amaze us with their creativity and versatility,” said gallery director Diana Stomienė.
G. Jagminas’ exhibition Poetic Testing Station 1 at Vilnius city gallery Meno Niša will be held from February 9 to March 17. The gallery is supported by Vilnius city municipality.
