Mantas Lesauskas. Photo: Reda Mickevičiūtė ©
A solo show of the designer Mantas Lesauskas “Trophies – Dressing Room” opens at the (AV17) gallery on May 25th. Folding screen, Recamier Daybed, valet stand, and other limited-edition and authorial design objects produced out of the walnut tree, copper, sheep, or goat fur will be exhibited in the show. The motif of a dressing room is chosen as a space of transformation, where a person can become someone else as well as rethink the physical and existential change of one’s being and mode of life. A significant role in the presented artist’s collection is assigned to the usage of plant and animal-based materials, which inevitably reveals an ethical dilemma of hunting and trophies in the era of Anthropocene. However, the designer does not create any trophies but rather performs the „repentance of the hunter“ by using fur and skin that was obtained in an ethical manner after the animal’s death. The artist combines these nowadays rarely used matters with luxurious and classical materials of sculpture and design to create a series of functional artworks that are chivalrous but requiring of critical reflection and thus returning to the custom of honouring the animal.
Mantas Lesauskas, Récamier Daybed, 2020. Photo: Darius Petrulaitis ©
Mantas Lesauskas, Folding Screen, 2020. Photo: Darius Petrulaitis ©
In his creative work, Mantas Lesauskas always experiments with different materials and seeks to break the limits of the possible effect of the design. The artist develops the branches of conceptual and social design in his projects, as well as reveals the importance of ecological ideas, questions the meaningfulness of producing new objects. By paying close attention to the rituals of everyday life and sustainable materials, the artist creates timeless design objects.
Mantas Lesauskas, Trophy Stool, 2019. Photo: Darius Petrulaitis ©
Mantas Lesauskas, Valet Stand, 2029. Photo: Darius Petrulaitis ©
Mantas Lesauskas (b. 1984) is a long-term researcher of design and a creator of object-oriented art pieces. The artist has received his bachelor’s degree in the Design Department of Vilnius Academy of Arts, in 2011 has acquired a degree of Art Licentiate with his art project and scientific paper “Narratives of Nostalgy in Design Objects”. From 2009 onwards, he has been lecturing in Higher Education Institutions, leading final theses, and participating in design and art projects in Lithuania and abroad. He is also a professor at the Design Department at Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Mantas Lesauskas. Photo: Reda Mickevičiūtė ©
The project is partially sponsored by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Exhibition “Trophies – Dressing Room” will be open at the Gallery (AV17), Totorių st. 5 until May 29.
