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artworks
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2023
exhibition "My enemy - Vilnius"
I want this exhibition to highlight the uneven development of Vilnius and the entire country. We are divided by social and economic inequality that permeates nearly every aspect of life. The quality of life and opportunities for a teenager from a poor family in Rokiškis differ drastically from those of a teenager the same age from a middle‑income family in Vilnius. He, who never chose his family, never chose where or when to be born, must grow up in a place where his education is assumed to be inferior, where the variety of entertainment and activities is limited, where the cultural life is quieter, where the living environment is poorer and more deprived, and where the chances to live well, to fulfill himself as an individual, to be happy are all much smaller. This is clearly the curse of modern Lithuania, which levels out a large share of any progress or achievement we might make.
In Vilnius, this inequality - the center-periphery conflict is perhaps most evident. Here live the wealthiest people and the poorest, most marginalized communities. Here, glass skyscrapers; there, cottages without running water. Here - the most expensive clothing boutiques; there - the largest markets overflowing with counterfeit brands. Here hydrogen-powered buses run alongside trolleybuses built in former Czechoslovakia. Here streets are narrowed in places, and in others, almost highways are built beneath apartment windows. Vilnius, my city, is so diverse - full of energy, joy, sorrow, love, contempt, envy, and hatred.
Text to the visitor:
I’m angry. More than angry. I hate you. Why do I have to ride an hour to work with a transfer because bus 52 didn’t come again, while you can walk to your downtown office in a couple of minutes? Why must I step aside onto that one‑tile‑wide sidewalk when you’re driving with your personalized license plates? Why are there thirty-year-old unfinished walkways by my home—where, it seems, the paving tiles simply end in the middle—while new parks are springing up one after another near you? Why must I pay for those new public spaces by you, while you tell me that if I want anything near my home, I have to build it myself? Why does everyone think about restoring your house, but my house they just want to tear down? Why must my home be burned down to make way for your skyscraper? Why does “upgrading” a neighborhood mean I’ll have to move out and give my place to you? Why, as you pay me only minimum wage, do you lecture me that we’re like family and I don’t belong here if I dare to think about money? Why do you raise my rent yet never fix my broken window? Why should it be enough for me to hope that one day I’ll become like you? I don’t want to be you. Why can’t everyone be just all right? Why must I believe this is the only path that I must endure? Why must I have nothing while you have everything?
Author of artworks and the idea - Povilas Šimonėlis
Curator of the original exhibition - Emilija Kairytė
"Renewal"
The work focuses on issues of gentrification, exploring the differences, contrasts, and relationships between the old and new character of changing neighborhoods and their connection to people.
The course of the creative process:
The initial concept was developed; the area (district of Šnipiškės in Vilnius) was photographed; after analyzing the photographs and refining the initial concept, a composition sketch was drawn; the photographs were cropped and retouched; using the collage principle, the photos were arranged according to the sketch; the final composition was retouched.
Original format - digital
Exhibited format - aluminum composite (100x74cm)
"Expansion"
The work explores the nature of Vilnius’s growth and development, its changes, and its image.
The course of the creative process:
The initial concept was developed; the area (the Green Bridge and part of district of Šnipiškės in Vilnius) was photographed; after analyzing the photographs and refining the initial concept, a composition sketch was drawn; the photographs were cropped and retouched; using the collage principle, the photos were arranged according to the sketch; the final composition was retouched.
Original format - digital
Exhibited format - aluminum composite (100x100cm)
"Home"
The work explores the relationship between still-developing ‘sleeping’ districts (in Lithuania we call areas where housing of all functions dominates that way) and nature, green spaces.
The course of the creative process:
The initial concept was developed; the area (district Pašilaičiai in Vilnius) was photographed; after analyzing the photographs and adjusting the initial concept, a composition sketch was drawn; the photographs were cropped and retouched; using the collage principle, the photos were arranged according to the sketch; the final composition was retouched.
Original format - digital
Exhibited format - aluminum composite (100x100cm)
"The cycle"
The work examines the phenomena of life in ‘sleeping’ districts (in Lithuania we call areas where housing of all functions dominates that way), their characteristics, and their relationship with people.
Text in the artwork means: we`ll buy; we`ll move in; we`ll move out; we`ll rent out.
The course of the creative process:
For leisure purposes, the area (district of Perkūnkiemis in Vilnius) was photographed; an initial concept was developed; the photographs were cropped and retouched; the images were arranged using the collage principle; the final composition was retouched.
Original format - digital
Exhibited format - aluminum composite (100x100cm)
"Hope"
The work explores the culture of soviet modernist districts (in Lithuanian we usually call them ‘sleeping districts’), their impact on people, and their prospects.
The course of the creative process:
The initial concept was developed; the area (districts of Šeškinė, Pašilaičiai and Lazdynai in Vilnius) was photographed; after analyzing the photographs and adjusting the initial concept, a composition sketch was drawn; the photographs were cropped and retouched; using the collage principle, the photos were arranged according to the sketch; the final composition was retouched.
Original format - digital
Exhibited format - aluminum composite (100x100cm)
"Human of Lithuania"
The work focuses on exploring the character of a society burdened by socio‑economic problems, attempting to ‘paint a generalized portrait of the Lithuanian person’.
The course of the creative process:
For leisure purposes, the location (the façade of the ‘Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva’) was photographed; a potentially interesting composition was noticed; an initial concept was developed; the photograph was cropped and retouched.
Original format - digital
Exhibited format - aluminum composite (100x32cm)
