I draw in two ways. First, I sketch, reflect and draw the outlines of visions, highlighting the essential qualities of the future work. It is the drawing that helps to develop the idea and complete the work. The other way of drawing keeps me glued to the page for a long time and in the unfolding work I observe what is happening, I travel through the images.
For larger exhibitions I usually present thematic works, solid series of drawings that delve into historical themes. But the most difficult works to present are those that are born randomly and don't have a single theme. I also call them "kitchen ones".
Often, while drinking coffee or chatting with loved ones in the kitchen, I'm carelessly scribbling something. These "off-topic" drawings are much more varied, strange, unique, disturbing. When I draw in the kitchen, I don't think about showing it to anyone, I don't think about the images themselves - they pop up in front of me, I wonder, and I put them away. Over the years, I have accumulated a lot of such fragmentary works, some of which I have selected for the exhibition "Mindaugas Drawings".
I invite you to take a look at the collection of drawings that did not fit in – did not become part of the cycles. They were easy to draw, if only for one reason: I really did them just for myself. But now I am sharing them with you too.
A drawing is considered alive when it can be observed directly, and only then does it create an experience. When you see my drawings on your computer or on your phone, you don't experience the real works. I invite you to see them live at the "5 malūnai" gallery from 5 to 27 May.
Mindaugas Lukošaitis (b. 1980, Šiauliai) graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2003, and is currently a PhD student at VDA. Since 1997 he has been participating in exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad (in 2004 he took part in the São Paulo Biennial with his brother Gintautas Lukošaitis); he has held solo exhibitions in Vilnius (2005, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2022, 2023), New York (2012) and Šiauliai (2015). The artist has received recognition for his series of drawings on important historical themes: "Resistance" (in memory of the Lithuanian post-war resistance and partisan fights, 2003), "Jews. My Story“, "Jews. My Story 2" (on the Holocaust, 2012 and 2014), "Rwanda" (2013), "Talvisota" (2013), "Pilėnai" (2013). The artist chooses a series of black-and-white drawings to narrate the tragic events, taking on the role of an objective and meticulous researcher of history, reconstructing the location and course of the crimes. He assembles a fragmented narrative from small (A4) drawings like an animated film. He illustrated Zigmas Vitkus' book "A Moment to Decide. Stories of Lithuanian Jewish Rescuers", and with G. Grajauskas created the comic book "Sea Salt on the Lips" (both 2023). The works are in the collection of the MO Museum in Vilnius, Šiauliai "Aušra" Museum, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk, Denmark), and in private collections in Lithuania and abroad.
Source: Lithuanian Encyclopedia
The exhibition is organised by Marija Marcelionytė-Paliukė
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