Photos – Andris Vītoliņš’ archive © Andris Vītoliņš. The secret in the box. 80x100cm. Oil on canvas, 2021.
This year, Vilnius gallery Meno Niša celebrates its 20th birthday and starts the festive program with a special exhibition. We Need a Chance to Be Reborn by the famous Latvian artist Andris Vītoliņš will be opened in two locations – Vilnius Town Hall and Meno Niša Gallery, from February 3.
“This is the second personal exhibition of Andris Vītoliņš in the gallery Meno Niša. The first one took place in 2019, and we are very happy to continue the successful international cooperation with this famous Latvian artist,” said Diana Stomienė, the head of Meno Niša. She also emphasized that this year the gallery is celebrating its 20th anniversary with Andris Vītoliņš.
Photo – Reinis Hofmanis © Andris Vītoliņš
Andris Vītoliņš is a Latvian painter, professor, and Vice-Rector at the Art Academy of Latvia. Since 1996, the artist has been actively participating in exhibitions both in Latvia and other European countries – Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria. Vītoliņš has long been interested in the industrial theme: machines, various vehicles, mechanisms, factories and their parts – pipes, screws, taps, connections. He has a master’s degree in painting from the Art Academy of Latvia, a bachelor’s degree in visual communication, he studied at the Faculty of Design for 3 years. In 2004, Andris Vītoliņš won the annual award of the “Latvijas Architektūra” magazine for Best Debut.
Andris Vītoliņš is also known to Lithuanian art visitors from the art fair ArtVilnius, where he participated both as an artist and as the chairman of the international jury for selecting the best participants.
Andris Vītoliņš. The explosion. 140x110cm. Oil on canvas, 2021 ©
The exhibition We Need a Chance to Be Reborn focuses on the ability of an individual in crisis situations to see a vision of the future. Thus, the works of the artist Andris Vītoliņš combine confidence in an idea, a thought, and “rebirth” in physical space. Namely, ideas that have evolved into things and objects are given the opportunity to be reborn and renewed in paintings.
“In my works, I try to capture the vibrant fluency of the world. On the one hand, paintings are inhabited by man-made, relatively stable structures, but on the other hand, there is also a sense of an irrational world that extends far beyond the earthly, obvious environment. I have noticed that our encounters with many things and phenomena are like flashes – at first, a thought or a process is active, but in an instant, it fades and disappears. At this moment, our physical position is crucial – whether we are in the center of the processes or on the periphery,” the author of the exhibition Andris Vītoliņš talks about the artistic statement of his show We Need a Chance to Be Reborn.
The supporter of the exhibition is Signet Bank which has long been diversifying both foreign and domestic art space, creating the bank’s private art collection, which currently includes more than 40 works in various techniques – painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, etc. Signet Bank has frequently participated in strengthening local cultural life, so it was natural to support the solo exhibition of the domestic artist Andris Vītoliņš, plus, the artist’s painting The Flying Dutchman is in the private collection of Signet Bank.
Andris Vītoliņš. The Ark.120x200cm. Oil on canvas, 2021 ©
The opening of the exhibition at the Town Hall will welcome visitors who have the National Certificate or the EU Digital COVID Certificate and facial protection no lower than the FFP2 respirator. During later days of the exhibition, both at the Town Hall and the gallery Meno Niša, the National Certificate will not be required, only medical masks will suffice. The sponsor of the Meno Niša Gallery is Vilnius City Municipality.
The exhibition of A. Vītoliņš We Need a Chance to Be Reborn will be waiting for visitors from February 3 to 26 in two locations: Vilnius Town Hall and the gallery Meno Niša. The opening of the exhibition will take place on February 3, at 6 pm, at Vilnius Town Hall.
