A B D G I J L N P R S Š U V Z

g. 1982

Andrius Zakarauskas was born in 1982 in Vilnius, where he now lives and works. From 2001-2005 he studied Fine Art at Vilnius Adacemy of Art. In 2004, he also studied in Altea, Spain at The Miguel Hernandez Univeristy, in the Faculty de Bellas Artes. His work concentrates on the contrast between the figurative and abstract traditions. Anonymous figures pose in schematic interiors of Zakarauskas‘ ouevre, this way varying between figurative and abstract traditions of painting. In his early works the artist sourced his motifs from secondary reality - cultural sources such as history and cinema. By choosing titles for his visual works he creates plots that often analyse the relationships between men and women. These narrative titles bring movement into the static figures and provide them with dimension. In his later works, his main theme – painting – becomes apparent. The influence of cinematography, however, remains as he choses cycles as the main principle of lineage. While figures are the central motif in his art works, he depersonalises it, thus situating himself in the position of the creator, the object and the spectator. In this way, he analyses the medium of painting and the role of the painter in contemporary culture, deconstructs the mythology of painting, and questions the hierachical structures that are apparent within the contemporaty art scene. Using the core elements of painting – brushstroke, color, and composition - Andrius Zakarauskas is creating a personal history of painting, and invites the viewer‘s active participation. He perpetually adds drawings, glass works, small canvases with systems of signs, thus defining and emphasizing the process of creation itself.

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"Kostia ir Linka" 2005 oil on canvas, diptych (50 x 60; 60 x 50) Plasticine figurines 10 x 5 x 4

"Exposition" 2006, oil on canvas 160 x 180 cm.

"Exposition(me vs. myself)" 2007.oil, canvas 150 x 175 cm.

Exposition (line) 2007, Oil on canvas, 170 x 195 cm.

100 (Hundred). 2007, glass, wire, 15 x 20 cm.

"Light and Shadows" 2007, graphite on paper, 45 x 50 cm.

"Learn painting (Haende hoch)", 2008, canvas, oil, 70 x 80

"Learn Painting" 2008, canvas, oil, 145 x 160

"Learn Painting (Final)" 2008, canvas, oil, 170 x 195

Two primitively painted figures, which reference the hyperrealistic features of Gerard Richter's paintings, are depicted. The artist made models of two characters, first from plasticine, then painting them on canvas. In doing so, he reflects upon the idea of painting as modelling, referring to motifs and the process of their selection from the cultural context. This work also reveals the first elements of gender relationship analysis.

In an abstract space, isolated characters are painted with animal heads, depersonating them and reducing them to their gender and character. Cinematographical situtation becomes the catalyst in the search of compositional decisions. This is the first work from the cycle entitled "Ekspozicija" which, instead of figure, depicts characters who are reduced to descriptive terms.

The motif of a painting inside another painting is not uncommon in the tradition of art. Here, however, he paints both of the pictures himself, contemplating his own creation, and rendering the author as the motif, the creator and the spectator. The dimension of time is also referenced in the 'double' surface of the canvas, simultaneously uniting these separate actors.

The artist's figure is gradually depersonalised to the point of an abstract character, whose facial features and proportions are consciously distorted. The replicable figure is considered as a mark, a line, and perspective. It deals with the problematic relationship between the figurative and the abstract. The schematic interior emphasises the necessity of a spectator, who compliments the language of signs bringing in his own personal experience. The importance of the brushstrokes signals a move away from the influences of other artists' such as Wilhelm Sasnal or Rafal Bujnowski, who work with the aesthetic of a smooth surface.

Amidst the wire, set in glass, he creates silhouette drawings, replicating in one way or another other art works. "Šimtas" (Ger. "Hundred") is a collection of particular things or meanings that have been made into a system of signs. Self reflection and revisiting his own material is a characteristic of the artist.

This drawing not only reveals the artist's creative process, but it also examines the actual medium. Graphite capacitates the creation of monochrome chiaroscuro (light and shadow) images. A lonely figure cloaked in shadows replicates the condition of the artist in the contemporary art world. For Zakarauskas, the plot becomes a tool in a perfect composition, accomplished by finding the ratio between the mark and the plane.

By using the symbols and insignia of dictatorship, the artist ironically propagates such dictatorships. When painted in loose brush strokes, the surface of the paint serves to emphasise the presence of the painter's brush. In this work, Zakarauskas questions the tendencies of contemporary art to accentuate the importance of each artistic discipline.

The monumental figure placed in the centre of the canvas announces the domination of painting within the artistic ouvre. Large scale sculptural plans together with the red colour scheme reiterate the aggressive totalitarian undertones. Just as the sculptures of the "great leaders" are always meant to be viewed from below, in this painting the facial features of the central figure are obscured, placing the focus on the outstretched finger showing the right choice. At the same time the plasticity of the images used contrast with the nature of the doctrine "Learn painting".

The expressive colour scheme and composition provoke allusions to interpretations of the Day of Judgement in art history. This work finishes the cycle "Learn Painting" by creating a scene of painting's triumph. Harsh combinations of colour, and the complicated multifigured composition quote the learned and the breakable rules of painting