On this day… Stasys arrives back at his home village, Lepšiai… It all happens in May 2024… That’s when the Stasys Museum opens up to the public, a museum titled after him. This was never predicted – the future from there, a little village, in the house within a disorderly wooden structure, run down with dripping roofs, filled with bellowing, roaring farm animals… No fairy tales could be heard there… But just one hour’s walk away from Lepšiai, the white rectangular building stands proudly in the city centre of Panevėžys… Stasys’ family farmhouse could fit into the space of the newly built museum, just like Legos, or how a relic found by children will fit in a matchbox. The old, long-gone farmhouse decayed years ago…
Stasys Eidrigevičius was constantly caught by unique ideas and artistic expressions that still nowadays go beyond pencil and paper. He is a multi-instrumentalist visual artist. Stasys’ oeuvre consists of paintings, posters, illustrations, pastels, graphic arts, drawings, watercolours, sculptures, installations, photography, performances, scenography, costumes, writing, directing and even acting. The most visualized subjects in his work are humanoid bodies, often given body parts augmented with household or farmhouse tools, animals or dwelling structures. His human-like creatures often do not have limbs. They are still able to move and stay alive with the help of other humans, objects, plants or animals, but in a rather constrained, uncomfortable and restricted capacity. His subjects and objects combine into continuous, uninterrupted chain.
Stasys’ human has a few iconic faces: one is to have no face, as in most of his so-called one-line drawings; the other one depicts a face within a face or regular object, and are decorative as well as richly coloured, with Stasys’ deep-gazing, iconic eyes; yet another might be condemned to act like Pinocchio, a long-nosed lad. Stasys is able to connect across generations due to his ability to create meaning in diverse techniques and genres. He has made illustrations for dozens of books for children and adults, printed in many languages around the globe.
The title of Stasys Eidrigevičius’ exhibition ICON – O – STASYS might raise the question, what does it mean? There are several suggested interpretations, and they too could be followed by others: it is ultimately open to the visitors. The symbol O could signify a face, expressed in a Primitive style, or an eye. Both are significant subjects in Stasys’ oeuvre. It might also mark a focal point, representing the intersection between Stasys and the public, and between the public and the museum…
The exhibit ICON – O – STASYS encompasses more than 1,000 square metres, including the three floors of the museum and the sculpture outdoors. The whole first floor is dedicated to moments from Stasys’ biography, as well as introducing the timeline of his creativity. The second floor will remain a permanent exhibition of almost all the techniques the artist has worked with. The third floor has more a contemporary approach, consisting of media artworks, and will also be a temporary exposition.
Stasys is a uniquely talented visual artist who is representative of the modern and contemporary art scene. He is well-versed in many techniques and has explored diverse genres. Stasys states: “In my work, the boundaries between painting and illustration, photography and graphics, sculpture and scenography, drawing and mural often disappear”. Stasys is an artist who is attentive to every possible that would support his creativity and lift him with his birds above reality, towards his own possible, imaginative and reachable landscape.
ICON – O – STASYS
May 31 – Nov 3, 2024
Stasys Museum
Panevezys, Lithuania
