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| The Victory of Sentiment Elīna Dūce, Visual Arts Theorist The exhibition of the nominees of the Swedbank Art Award 2009 10.12.2009. – 03.02.2010. Riga Art Space | |
| Creative work over the previous two years, innovation and international profile are the criteria used in judging the nominees for the Swedbank Art Prize. The winner of the prize in 2009, in a field of five hopefuls, was Lithuanian Jonas Gasiūnas, who creates drawings from candle smoke. | |
 Jonas Gasiūnas. Withdrawing. Acrylic on canvas, drawing with candle smoke. 290x310 cm. 2009. Photo from Jonas Gasiūnas' private archive | |
| Elīna Dūce: How did you come to this method? Jonas Gasiūnas: For a long time I searched for a method which would simultaneously depict the concrete, and at the same time show that the concrete does not exist. When I discovered this approach of drawing with candle smoke, the metaphor opened up the chance for me to pass on my idea further. The things that are depicted in my works using smoke do not exist. If we were to remove this layer of smoke, nothing would remain. In this way I can tell my stories. If somebody doesn’t like these stories, they can view them as fiction. In the same way I speak about what affects the memory. The message that is created by drawing with smoke is that our memory disappears. After a while our memories become fantastic, unreal. The method seeks to replicate the process whereby a person tries to remember everything from scratch after a bout of amnesia. He thinks he is re-remembering everything, when in fact he is returning to the past. E.D.: How do you remember? J.G.: I think that I remember anew every day. Every day! Yesterday, for example, I remembered an event in one way, but today I recall it slightly differently. And in a year’s time I will remember it differently again. The memory doesn’t degenerate or disappear, it merely becomes romanticised and mythologized. E.D.: It becomes collective memory? J.G.: It would be going a bit far to say that I am working with collective memory. I am more interested in individual memory and history. My works include my past, my life, political realities – all of the things that happen to me and which are around me. For me, painting is primarily about passing information on to others, and painting in an aesthetic sense is only secondary. There is not much of what typifies painting in these works. In a sense the result is a sad comic, but on the other hand it is a way of speaking about unhappy things. The message in these works plays an essential role. E.D.: You are the head of the Vilnius Art Academy Department of Painting. What experience do you pass on to your students? J.G.: I endeavour to tell them that painting is first of all a way of thinking, and only secondarily about working with paint. In my department painters don’t just paint. If they go over to another medium, I wish them all the best, because if a painter today doesn’t feel a sense of competition, then that’s bad. In that case he or she is just conservative. You shouldn’t be afraid of moving your works towards other media. Painting in itself is conservative rather than an innovative phenomenon. I like to think that today there can’t be heroes, only survivors. I want my paintings to survive in the age of the internet and the monitor. My stance goes against the innovations offered by culture. That makes me delve into the past, not by looking back, but by thinking it over. By this I mean not just history as traditionally understood, but the history of painting itself. It gives the opportunity to replay what has already been played. In this sense, non-innovation is a positive phenomenon in my case. I’m not naive. In order to arrive at this prize, or let’s say to keep up with video and other media, I’ve travelled a long road, creating installations and environmental objects, making films. But that can all be seen in my works. Lithuanians don’t consider it to be painting (laughs). E.D.: In the Soviet era, it was painting that was considered to be Lithuania’s strong point in comparison with the other Baltic states. J.G.: God only knows! Since we regained independence, we here in Lithuania have lost touch with Latvia. E.D.: How do you mean? J.G.: In the Soviet era I had, for example, exhibitions together with Aija Zariņa, with Oļegs Tillbergs. I have travelled to all of the neighbouring regions, but I’ve never had an exhibition here. Maybe in the Soviet times someone brought my works for group exhibitions which I knew nothing about. I’ve been to Estonia quite a lot, but this is my first exhibition in Latvia. And immediately – an award. That’s paranoia (laughs)! But it’s nice to be here with you. I walk the streets of Riga, listening to what you say, and as a Lithuanian I understand everything. The same Lithuanian words, except in a different order. I go all sentimental. | |
 Jonas Gasiūnas. Radar. Acrylic on canvas, drawing with candle smoke. 301x295 cm. 2009. Photo from Jonas Gasiūnas' private archive | |
| This is not only the first exhibition by Jonas Gasiūnas in Riga, it is also the first exhibition in Latvia of Swedbank Art Prize nominees. I asked a number of experts what they thought of this year’s nominees exhibition compared with previous ones. Norbert Weber, independent curator (Germany), has served on the Swedbank Art Prize jury since 2008: As opposed to the KUMU exhibition of 2008 for which only new media and installation artists were nominated, a wider range of artists were represented at the Riga Art Space this year. Two of the five artists work with classic painting techniques. As a result, the jury may not have been able to make its judgement based on subtle nuances in works featuring similar characteristics. We did that in Tallinn. We spent a lot of time trying to find a consensus. This meant intellectual conversations about the sophistication of a work of art at the highest level. As a result, Miks Mitrēvics won the prize. The candidates’ works in Riga in 2009 demanded a different assessment approach and methodology of discussion. The formal aspects became secondary, and content became the determining factor. This kind of comparison gave an advantage to Jonas Gasiūnas over the paintings of Tõnis Saadoja. Lolita Jablonskiene, Director of the National Gallery of Lithuania (Lithuania): Firstly, I greatly value the fact that the nominated art-works have been shown together in one single exhibition. In think that the jury finds it easier to choose a winner in the presence of the works; it is also a good opportunity for the viewers to see the latest works by contemporary artists in our region. In the 1990’s, joint exhibitions by Baltic-Nordic artists were widespread, but today projects like this are comparatively rare. In this way, the Swedbank prize not only spotlights the winner, it also brings artists together. It is also commendable that the number of participating countries is growing, which aligns with the natural spirit of contemporary art itself. In my opinion this system has the potential to become a truly significant contemporary art event in the Baltic region. What do you think makes the works of Jonas Gasiūnas note-worthy? N.V.: A comparison between the works of Saadoja and Gasiūnas is a good basis for assessing the works of this year’s winner. The works of Tõnis Saadoja from the Mainstream series are a carefully elaborated expression of painting possibilities. It is art about art or even art about the artist, i.e. Gerhardt Richter. The reference to this important painter makes us understand/realise the peculiarities of Gasiūnas’ works. Of Richter’s most famous works, Onkel Rüdi stands out for being so complex and multilayered. It’s not only a painting based on a photograph, it’s also a personal exploration of his family’s Nazi past. The works of Jonas Gasiūnas are also complex. They both use, for example, the animation technique of making a drawing on transparent film which is placed on a coloured background, and which simultaneously refers to both history and memories. Gasiūnas’ works (just like Richter’s) do not include political trivialities. They are personal, debatable, multilayered and politically uncorrect. For this reason, Gasiūnas’ works are noteworthy. Inese Baranovska, Creative Director of Riga Art Space (Latvia): In November I had the opportunity to visit Vilnius and get to know the artist and his works. Jonas Gasiūnas is an atypical artist for the 21st century, someone the young Turks might refer to as old school, but then everything new tends to be just something old that has been forgotten. For him, art is his whole life, you could even say he “burns” for ideas, and this is a great rarity in our consumerist world. For 15 years Gasiūnas has worked as a teacher at the Vilnius Art Academy, and although he still hasn’t reached the respected rank of professor, he is loved by the young painters. So ideals are not yet dead in our mercenary world! In the works of Gasiūnas, there is not a hint of construction, conceptualisation or theorising – a very pleasing side product of 21st century art. I don’t want to judge whether this is good or bad, but many artists are doing it, more or less excellently. The fact that in painting it is possible to express yourself in a different way by creating the figural contours of works using smoke, thus turning classical, substantial and sustainable in the long-term painting into an ephemeral phenomenon causes me to bow my head in respect. Gasiūnas doesn’t tell stories, rather he conjures up a world which encourages us to lose ourselves in thought, ironically remember our collective past and see the light of life between the sooty symbols. How do you rate the works of Jonas Gasiūnas in Lithuania’s artistic environment? L. J.: Jonas Gasiūnas is an exception on the Lithuanian artistic scene. He is the first contemporary painter whose works have developed an original, conceptual idea, by which I mean not just the soot technique, but mainly a philosophy of depiction in painting. Gasiūnas is also an influential teacher of painting for the new generation and an activist in Lithuania’s cultural life, who organises independent art events together with his associates. I deeply respect his independent stance. What do the students of Gasiūnas think of him? Kunigunda Dineikaite, a former student of Jonas Gasiūnas: Jonas Gasiūnas is a creator of his own fortune, he is a scandalous personality, and as he himself says, you don’t have to wish him success because he is already successful. I remember him as a temperamental person with a sharp tongue, a teacher who could wound you, but also as a good painter. At the time when I was studying, he had no comparison. We were afraid to speak. Gasiūnas taught me for two years. During that time I learned a lot psychological defence tactics and painting, analysis, and searching for a narrative. I know many students who can’t stand him because of his brutality, swearing and anger, and who, after studying under him, haven’t painted for years. You had to know how to please him, but to please him you had to work in the way he wanted you to work. Possibly that’s why at exhibitions you can recognise former Gasiūnas students – by a certain manner of painting. Egle Karpavičūte, student of Jonas Gasiūnas: As a teacher, Gasiūnas encourages his students to properly formulate concepts and ideas and to seek ways of realising them. Kristina Kuriļonoka, student of Jonas Gasiūnas: In recent times there has been a change of opinion at the Vilnius Art Academy about other media. I believe that a lot of the credit for this goes to Gasiūnas. I think the works of Gasiūnas leave few people unmoved. To me they are a chaotic mixture of real Lithuanian feelings – complex beauty, sorrow and emotions. I have been inspired by his ability to combine technically complex things with a rational analysis of our past. This year’s nominees for the Swedbank Art Prize: Viktor Alimpijev (Russia), Jonas Gasiūnas (Lithuania), Voldemārs Johansons (Latvia), Tõnis Saadoja (Estonia) and Magnus Wallin (Sweden). Previous prize-winners: Marko Laimre (Estonia), Ene-Liis Semper (Estonia), Marko Mäetamm (Estonia), Artūras Raila (Lithuania), Gints Gabrāns (Latvia), Mark Raidpere (Estonia), Valdas Ozarinskas (Lithuania) and Miks Mitrēvics (Latvia). /Translator into English: Filips Birzulis/ | |
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