Mindaugas Navakas (1952)
Lithuania

SECTION
Reading the Future
PARTNER

The Lithuanian artist Mindaugas Navakas is considered a symbol of the removal of physical and geopolitical barriers. In his work, Navakas deals with a utopian scale. The monumental sculptures he created have contributed to the transformation of the understanding of sculpture in Lithuania. In this notebook, Navakas leads the audience to reflect on the overturning of structural and architectural canons. He has always been interested in a postmodern dialogue in multiple ways, combining artworks in institutional or public places, creating a fluid and ironic connection between them.



ARTWORK

Vilnius Notebook 1. 1981–1986, 1986

“In the 12 exhibited sheets, we see a true battle of giants.[ …] What is this? A radical attack? A game? How and why does the sculptor’s will turn familiar buildings and landscapes into something other than what we are used to seeing them as? A paper ‘sculpture’ on an unrealistic scale makes it possible to feel, almost physically, what is important to real sculpture, to avoid dissolving in the urban space or in a landscape. Mindaugas Navakas is always concerned with a sculpture’s place in the environment and in society, as well as issues of the suggestion and impact of form. In his fantastic montages, the artist forces the viewer to abandon the usual logic of evaluating the environment by exposing the conditional nature of certain plastic conventions, and reminding us of our poor knowledge of the world of things we have created, as well as the endless possibilities for understanding its forms and meanings.” Giedre Jankevičiūtė (1986)


VENUE

Kaunas Picture Gallery


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