Stasys Museum’s debut at the Contemporary Art Biennale in France

On 7-16 November of this year in France, the contemporary art space La BF 15 in the city of Lyon will present the author’s exhibition “Lines” by Stasys Eidrigevičius. The exhibition presented during the 17th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art together with the theater festival Contre-Sens makes sense of the themes of empowered identity and global neighborhood, which reflect not only Lithuania’s season in France, but also the international art bridges being built by the Stasys Museum.

The exhibition “Lines” invites visitors to explore the perimeter of the sheet and canvas, poetic and geographical territories, and the realities of individual and collective history. Between S. Eidrigevičius’s one-line drawings on paper and large white canvases hung in the space of the La BF 15, the sensitivity of the artist’s visual universe and the feeling of freedom open up impressively.

The themes developed during the Lithuanian season in France provide an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation, start an intercultural art dialogue and present to France the newest contemporary art museum in Lithuania, the Stasys Museum, located in Panevėžys, the hometown of S. Eidrigevičius.

According to Lina Albrikienė, the curator of the exhibition, the works of Eidrigevičius cross the border between metaphor, surrealism and fantasy. “Perhaps the masked character in the artist’s drawings is the real person emerging from the faceless body to reveal the alienation of personality, or is the faceless body just an impersonator, and the masked humanoids and animals are actually the real beings, the ones that can be trusted? S. Eidrigevičius impressively juxtaposes animals and humanoids. He depicts them physically tightly and permanently connected, as if they are forced to co-habit and co-exist. They are tied with ropes, attached with sticks or body parts. We have a vital connection with nature. We are nature”, said Albrikienė.

In the curator’s opinion, the artist’s subjects and objects connect in an unbroken chain that creates a visually and emotionally compelling sense of balance. The obvious intensity depicted in the narratives of his drawings reflects that the characters are fighting for better living conditions and for existential freedom. The inspiration for these scenes comes from S. Eidrigevičius’s childhood experiences, when he lived in a small Lithuanian village, in a wooden shed with a leaky roof, next to the family’s farm buildings where animals were kept. Although Stasys emigrated to Poland during the Soviet times, the memories of his childhood linger and constantly rest on different surfaces, and are conveyed in different forms: on paper or canvas, in a sculpture installation or performance.The empirical world of S. Eidrigevičius’s imagination begins on the surface or 3D drawn line.

Exhibition Curator – Lina Albrikienė, Architect – Darius Baliukevičius, Graphic Designer – Rūta Rancevaitė.

La BF 15 address: 11 quai de la Pêcherie, Lyon.
Opening hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

The event is part of the Lithuanian season in France 2024. The season is organised by the Lithuanian Culture Institute together with the Institut Français in Paris. The project is partially financed by the Government of Lithuania and the municipality of Panevėžys.