The exhibition “Traveling Imagination” presents a part of Stasys Eidrigevičius’s book illustration collection, which the artist donated to the Stasys Eidrigevičius Arts Centre. The exhibition features works created for Vytautė Žilinskaitė’s book “Journey to Tandadrika” (1984), José Muriljas’ “My Friend the Owl” (1986) and Rita Repšienė’s “For Fairy Tales” (2008).
The architecture of the traveling exhibition is unique. The structure of the house is created from bright Stasys’s colors and neon lights, inviting the viewer to get acquainted not only with Stasys’s work, but also with his colorful personality.
A rainbow woven from bodies; birds tied with wings; a cat catching a frightened snake with a stick and a tail; a bunny that lost its right ear in a tear in the canvas; a flower stamen pressing a miniature dog; scissors cutting a pale face; a child wrapped in a ribbon; babies entangled in a fairy’s hair; a masked man biting a spindle; a frog firmly holding a rainbow trying to escape… It seems that none of the characters created by Stasys Eidrigevičius, presented at the exhibition, can exist as a separate or separated body. They „act” here only when intertwined with other works or objects. All of them: both characters and various objects are glued together into an indivisible, integral organism. Maybe the artist reflects the ecosystem of nature and man, that unbroken chain? Objects and creatures support each other. The thread of images intertwined in the drawings reflects an indivisible, inseparable friendship, belonging or dependence on each other, and suffering, which is reflected in the motifs of constraint, compression, and binding.
The motif of constraint is very important in Stasys’s work. He also reflects on his childhood in the countryside, isolated from society, culture, children’s „real” entertainment, and life under socialist oppression. However, the title of the exhibition „Traveling Imagination” allows the viewer to break free from the shackles depicted in the illustrations. It enables us to escape, immerse ourselves in our own fantasy journey, to cross all possible boundaries, where mythological, anthropomorphic creatures exist. The word „travel” is also a reference to Stasys’ biographical aspects, when the artist lived in various Lithuanian villages and cities from childhood, until finally in 1980 he emigrated to Warsaw, where he still lives.
Of course, without the authors of the books, these illustrations probably would not exist. If you have read at least one book illustrated by Stasys, you must have noticed that the artist does not directly depict what we read. According to Stasys, before creating illustrations, he always discusses with the authors of the texts, who, like, for example, Vytautė Žilinskaitė, opened an even wider field for his imagination, instead of closing or clamping it down.
The exhibition will be open 2025 02 07 – 04 02
Exhibition curator Lina Albrikienė
Architect Darius Baliukevičius
www.stasysmuseum.com
